


Polar

by Zivicio



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, F/M, I start writing again after 6 months and this is what I come up with, Light Angst, Or should I say..., Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is characterized, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Slow MELT, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-08 00:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7735252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zivicio/pseuds/Zivicio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mettaton walks into a coffee shop and walks out with an interest in a girl he's never met.</p><p>Pretty much just another Mettaton/Reader fanfic, but hey, you can never have too much Mettaton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1 // Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 1,864

"You mind if I sit here, darling?" A sultry voice wakes you from your catatonic state, and your wrist stops its movements of swirling the water in your cup. In the half-second you take to think that the voice sounded familiar, you look up to see its owner leaning against the booth across from you.

"Uh, sure, go ahead." You say. For some reason, you're not as shocked as you would've expected yourself to be when meeting one of the world's most famous celebrities.

"I like your suit." Mettaton says as he takes a seat.

"Really? I would have figured you would like something more... Pink." You look down at the grey of the suit and grin at him. Mettaton seems to appreciate your humor as he returns your smile.

"Well, I suppose that would be true. Though I do admire your style." He takes a sip of his coffee, and before you get a chance to respond, there is a gasp from across the room.

"Oh my god, Mettaton! Can I get a picture?" A few girls rush over to him and he stands up to greet them. You can't help but chuckle to yourself as he tries to deal with the multiple phones being shoved in his face and girls talking over each other. After a couple of minutes he sates their needs and gets them to leave.

"It looks to me like they admire _your_  style." You joke as he sits back down.

"What can I say, darling, I'm irresistible." Mettaton shrugs with a smirk. You roll your eyes at his narcissism, but let a smile cross your face.

"So, what's a big shot like you doing in a little café like this?" You ask, returning to absentmindedly swirling your water.

"What, is it a crime to want some coffee?" He replies, taking another drink.

"No, I'd just figure you'd have some servant to get it for you or something." You say and rest your chin in your hand.

Mettaton scoffs, "Is that really what people think of me?" You shrug, doing your best to look innocent.

"How would I know? I am but a mere peasant." You remove your hand from your chin to cover up a yawn.

"What, am I not entertaining enough for you darling?" Mettaton asks, leaning back in mock offense.

"Mmh, you're putting me to sleep." You let your head drop to the table dramatically and pretend to sleep. You hear Mettaton huff and mutter something about being rude. You pull your head up to look at him.

"No, I've just had a busy day...ish. Busy, to me. But not to someone else. I guess." You stumble around your words and yawn again, then wave off the subject. "Anyway."

"How often do you come here?" Mettaton asks, picking up on your subject change.

"Eh, pretty much every day." You reply.

"Really? Interesting that I've never seen you before." He says.

"Maybe you just don't come at the right time?"

Mettaton scoffs again, "Me? Do something incorrectly? I don't think so sweetheart." He puts a hand to his chest as he speaks.

"Right, how could I ever think such a terrible thing? I am ashamed." You shake your head and look to the ground, matching Mettaton in his dramatics. He laughs, and you look up at him with a smile.

"My my, I see someone has a taste for theater." Mettaton says.

"Eh, I'm just a good actor is all." You shrug.

"Have you ever thought of pursuing it?" He asks, tilting his head.

"No, not really. It's not something I would really enjoy as a job in the long run, y'know? I actually just got my master's degree in hardware engineering." You look down and rub the back of your neck.

"Really?" Is all Mettaton says, encouraging you to talk more.

"Yeah, I came from a job interview, which is the reason for the suit."

"Well, I hope you get the job," Mettaton says, his expression something of concern and hope.

You laugh, "I don't, the guy was a total dick!" Your exclamation makes Mettaton laugh as well, a sound that seems genuine and makes him come across as less of a celebrity and more of just another monster.

"Anyway, enough about that," you glance down at your cup, "I have to ask, how often do you get stopped like you did earlier?" Mettaton looks thoughtful.

"All the time, I reckon. If I'm anywhere in public I'm bound to be noticed at least once, usually much more." He fixes his hair as he speaks.

"And you don't get tired of it?" You ask, then take a sip of your water.

"Not really! Despite some of them being a little... interestingly behaved, being a star is my dream come true. Having people idolize you is one of the most amazing yet humbling things, and I wouldn't want my life any other way." Mettaton says, breaking into a small smile. "I can only hope that everyone gets to feel the happiness that I feel with my life in their own."

"Well, that's a great way to look at it. Respect." You nod, then bring your index finger to your nose as you feel a drop inside it.

"Balls." Is all you say when you take your hand away from your face.

"Huh? What's wrong, darling?" Mettaton asks, his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as he looks at you with concern. You get up, showing him the blood on your index and middle fingers, and speedwalk to the bathroom.

"No blood on the suit, no blood on the suit, no blood on the suit," You chant quietly as you open the door and grab a tissue from the counter. You take a moment to silently thank the place for actually having tissues in the bathrooms, and also for the bathroom being empty.

Mettaton knocks on the door and opens it a crack, "Sweetheart? You alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm good, it's just a nosebleed." You respond as he opens the door and slips inside. "You know you shouldn't be in here."

"I'm just worried about you, is all. What in the world caused that?" He asks, leaning around to look at your face.

You shrug, "No idea. It just happens sometimes."

"That can't be healthy." Mettaton says as he straightens back up.

"I'm just glad I didn't get any blood on my suit." You trade out one blood soaked tissue for another, and blow your nose into that one. "Check that out." You huff and grin, looking at the spatter of blood on the new tissue. Mettaton cringes and leans away slightly.

"What, is the big bad killer robot afraid of a little blood?" You laugh while folding your tissue and holding it to your nose.

"I've never actually hurt someone! Granted, I did battle Frisk, but that was different. Either way, monsters don't bleed, so I'm still not used to the concept of blood." Mettaton defended himself with a little frown.

"Spoooooky bloooood," You wave the bloody tissue in front of him with a shit-eating grin on your face.

He glares at you playfully, "I'm gonna go wait outside." He walks out without another word, leaving you to snicker at your own antics and clean up.

Once you're free of blood you walk back out, but just as you sit back down across from Mettaton your phone goes off.

"Excuse me, my ass is vibrating." You pull your phone out of your pocket and stand up, going outside to take the call.

"Where the hell are you? It's late." You make a face and hold your phone away from your ear as your brother's voice loudly crackles through the receiver. You can see Mettaton laughing at your expression out of the corner of your eye.

"Where do you think I am, asshat?" You say while flicking off Mettaton, who acts like he's just been shot. "Actually, I'll give you a hint: It's the only fricking place I ever go??"

"Do you know what time it is? You were supposed to be home over an hour ago!" He exclaims, brushing off your sarcasm.

"You're my brother, Tony, not my dad. You can't control me." You remind him, the annoyance in your voice showing strongly.

"I don't care, get home." He says and hangs up. You sigh and run a hand through your hair, and walk back inside.

"What was that about?" Mettaton asks as you flop into the booth with a disgruntled sound.

"My brother, telling me to come home since 'it's late' and 'I was supposed to be home an hour ago,' though he really has no place to tell me what to do." You grumble as you sit up, "I guess I'll get going then."

"Before you go," Mettaton pulls out his phone and opens it to set up a new contact, "I never got your name, darling." He slides his phone to you across the table, and you put in your phone number.

"Katrina." You say and give the phone back to him, leaving him to fill in the contact name. "It was nice to meet you, Mettaton."

"You too, love." He says as you stand up. You give him a small smile and a nod, and head home.

"What took you so long?" You look up to see Tony sitting on your couch. Rolling your eyes, you take your keys out of the door lock and toss them on the counter.

"Don't ask me how the job interview went or anything." You say, going to your bathroom mirror. Tony follows you in and comes up behind you as you take off your tie.

"Okay, well, how'd it go?" He asks and leans against the wall behind him.

You shake your head and exhale, "I'm no cactus expert, but I know a prick when I see one."

"Guy a douche?" Tony laughs.

"Oh yeah. Sexist comments left and right, and he questioned my ability as an engineer because I'm a woman. Total shithead." You go into your bedroom and toss the tie on your bed, then taking off your blazer.

"So, after that, what happened?" He asks from the bathroom.

"For god's sake am I not allowed to have a private life?" You say while kicking off your shoes.

"One: You don't even believe in god, and two: No." His response makes you groan.

"I was sitting at the cafe, and guess who comes up to me," You pause and unbutton your sleeves and collar, "Mettaton."

Tony narrows his eyes, "Really?" It comes out as more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah! Dude asked if he could sit down, I said yes, and we hit it off." You fall backwards onto your bed.

"Okay, I know you don't want to tell me, but _really?_ Come on." Tony says.

You laugh, "No, I'm actually telling the truth!"

"Riiiight. Anyway, I gotta go, Samantha's here. Later." He waves to you and walks off, shaking his head.

"Bye!" You call out to him and hear the door close a second later. You sigh and close your eyes, relaxing into the mattress.

"I'm glad I have tonight off."


	2. Day 21 // Restaurant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 2,254

Three weeks later, Mettaton has made it a habit of coming to see you every day at the café. In the last week, he had also made a habit of walking you home.

"Oh, god, I have work today," You groaned, putting your head in your hands.

Mettaton chuckled, "You say that almost every day, darling."

"That would be because I work almost every day!" You say, lifting your head up to look at him.

"Come on now, it can't really be that bad can it?" Mettaton asks. You do nothing but groan in response. You had no idea why one of the biggest celebrities on Earth was befriending you, you were certain he had better things to do with his time, but hell you were happy to hang out with him. He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor and you were a girl who didn't really have friends unless her brother counted.

"Either way, I've gotta get going." You sighed, and stood up. "Coming?"

"Of course I am." Mettaton smiled as he stood as well, and followed you out the door. After creating a little bit of distance from the place, the two of you were walking side by side. Over time he had realized that since his legs are longer than yours he can move faster, so he'd slow his pace for you.

"So, Mr. Big Shot, you seen the news lately?" You asked, unable to stop the smile that came from addressing him that way.

"No..." He looks down at you out of the corner of his eye, "Is there something I should know?"

"I'm surprised you don't know, I'd think that you look at all the articles you're in when you spend your nightly four hours of loving yourself and making out with your reflection." It takes effort to not laugh at your comment, or at Mettaton's reaction.

"Please, darling, you should know it's at _least_ six hours." He says after a quick recovery. You end up letting out a small strangled noise, which Mettaton laughs at.

" _Anyway_ , we made the news! Emphasis on we," You say, giving him your phone to look at. "Honestly I'm surprised it took this long." He quickly scans through the article, not really needing to read it; the headline says it all.

 ** _Superstar Mettaton Seen With Unknown Girl_**  is accompanied by multiple pictures of the two of you, either sitting at your beloved café or walking together. Mettaton gives your phone back to you with a worried look.

"You do know what this means, sweetheart," He says.

You sigh, "Yeah, I know, no more café. There are gonna be people camping all over that place for a while now." Suddenly, you gasp excitedly and nudge him with your elbow. "Hey, I wonder when I'm gonna get my first death threat!"

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you're only using me for fame." Mettaton chuckles, but you can see in his eyes that there's a hint of concern.

"Oui, forgot about it coming across that way. But you know I wouldn't, I'm just excited is all." Your comment seemed to put him at ease some.

"Excited? I wouldn't think of you as someone who would enjoy the spotlight." He says.

"Hey, man, there's a lot you don't know about me. If I wasn't doing computer engineering, I actually would have loved to make a career out of music. I love to sing and I love to share my creativity with the world. Now, being your level of famous? No way. But publicity isn't something I'm afraid of." Mettaton nodded along to what you were saying. "Besides, as weird as this is going to sound, I actually kind of feed off of negative energy. Well, negativity towards me. For some reason I love when people dislike me, and I love it even more when they give me shit. It's invigorating to me."

Before Mettaton could get a chance to respond, the both of you looked across the street at your apartment building at the same time.

"Aw, shit." You said, a hint of laughter in your voice. The front of your building was covered with news reporters and camera men, all waiting for you.

"METTATON!" One of them shouted, and started running towards you. This led to all of the other reporters stampeding across the street as well.

"Uh, you wanna come in?" You ask Mettaton, looking over at him while pulling your hood up.

He looks back at you, "Sure thing."

"I'm not an idiot. The less they know about me the better." You say when noticing his raised eyebrow. The reporters swarm you.

"Mettaton! Who is this human you've been with?"

"What's your relationship?"

"Are you dating?" Questions came from everywhere, all of them being somewhat similar. The two of you move through the crowd slowly, you letting Mettaton handle answering the people.

"No comment, no comment, no comment, I'll talk about everything later," He repeated. You just kept your hood up and your head down. When the two of you finally got into the building they left you alone, starting to disperse. You felt a little pang of guilt when you looked at the office manager, who appeared incredibly overwhelmed and stressed.

"Well," You breathed once the two of you got into the elevator, "that was interesting."

"I think 'interesting' doesn't quite cover it, darling." Mettaton said as you took your hood off and fixed your hair.

You grinned at him sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Oh, no, there's nothing to apologize for," He smiled, "If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you." You shake your head and the elevator comes to a stop, the doors opening and letting you out.

"Nah." You say, walking to your door.

"That.. doesn't give me much to work with, dear." Mettaton looks up from his nails. You look back at him and shrug.

"You're an actor. Improv." You unlock your door and throw it open, taking a couple of steps and then falling onto the floor. "Welcome to my humble abode." Mettaton looks around, taking in white walls and a lack of much furniture.

"It's very... Clean," He says, though inside you could tell he was screaming.

You laugh, "I'm a simple girl. I don't need much."

"I can tell." He replies. You roll onto your back and look up at him.

"Well, we've got..." You grunt, standing back up, "45 minutes. Come on." Waving at him to follow you, you walk into your bedroom and sit up at the head of the bed.

"Oh my, being invited into a woman's bedroom..." Mettaton says in a seductive tone.

"Oh, screw you." You glare at him jokingly as he sits across from you.

"Is that not the point, darling?" He smirks, and you put your face in your hands, unable to not blush at his remark. "Oh come now, don't be shy."

You look at him suddenly, "I'm going to dropkick you off this bed if you don't quit it."

His eyes widen and he raises an eyebrow. "Well, didn't know you were into those kinds of things love." He poses so that he's lying on his side, propping himself up with his elbow. You glare at him again and press your lips together, putting your arms behind you as a brace and jumping up to kick him. Your feet catch him square in the chest and he rolls off the bed with a yelp, then thudding on the floor. You lean over the edge of the bed.

"Told ya." You say, looking down at him.

"How rude." He replies, looking back at you. You shrug with a smile and offer him your hand to pull him up, which he takes, but pulls you onto the floor instead.

"Hey!" Is all you manage to squeak out before catching yourself. Mettaton mocks the smile and shrug you had given him.

"It's only fair." Before you could respond you phone went off, signaling that you only had 30 minutes to get ready. You grumble and get up to turn it off. "Wow. Getting cockblocked by a cellphone. That's a first." Mettaton says.

"There was no cock to be blocked!" You throw your phone at him.

You spend 20 minutes cleaning yourself up and getting dressed and ready to go, during which Mettaton fills the time by talking about his shows. He mentions that he spends one week of the month in the studio at a time, filming nonstop, then having free time the next three weeks. You listen intently, nodding every so often to let him know you were attentive.

"Oh! And by the way, tomorrow starts that week for me, so unfortunately I won't be able to see you." Mettaton says.

"You've seen me every day for the past three weeks anyway, I'm surprised you're not sick of me yet." You grin at him.

"Psh. Never." Is all he says.

"Right. Well, either way, we've gotta get going." You say, putting on your shoes.

"I believe this belongs to you." Mettaton says as he stands up, handing you your phone.

"Oh yeah, I kind of need that. Thanks." When the two of you got down to the lobby it was empty of reporters, which you were both grateful for.

"This way." Mettaton says, going ahead of you to the front doors.

"Um..?" You question, but follow him nonetheless. Outside is a black limousine, of which Mettaton opens the back door and gestures to it. "Well, this is out of place." You can't help but chuckle at the situation.

"I called my driver and asked him to come get us, just in case there were still people out there." Mettaton explained as he got in and closed the door. You tell the driver where to go and take a second to soak in your surroundings.

"I... I'm a fricking waitress, who lives in a dingy ass apartment complex, going to work in a limousine." You laugh, "One of these things is not like the other!"

"Yes, I suppose not." Mettaton just smiles.

Mettaton dropped you off, and after a quick thank you, it was off to work. You never knew how the patrons were going to be behavior-wise, but, lucky for you, you weren't as effected by shitty customers as other servers were. Your co-workers loved you because of that, and if they got a particularly bad table, you'd take it for them. They were appreciative and would always pay you back somehow, and all of that lead to a nice work environment.

About 7 hours into your 8 hour shift, a group of 6 showed up.

"They requested to be seated in your group," One of the hostesses told you.

"It's fine. Thanks, Erica." You patted her arm and went off to see who this mystery group was. Your jaw dropped when you saw Mettaton.

"Hi! My name's Katrina and I'll be your server today," You said your usual shtick while passing out menus. "What are you doing?" You lowered your voice and looked at Mettaton urgently.

"I decided I'd pay you a visit!" Mettaton replied cheerily, "Oh, and I brought some friends."

"I can see that." You scoffed, but smiled. "I have to go do my _job_ , I'll be back." Rolling your eyes you trotted off to wait another table, but the smile you gave was a little more genuine now.

Five minutes passed and you returned to Mettaton's table to take drink orders, getting slightly flustered as he flirted with you the entire time. He introduced his friends to you, who gave you brief hellos before returning to their conversations; two skeletons, tall and short, a ghost, and an anthropomorphic fish and lizard.

As your last hour went by and it got continuously closer to closing time, the restaurant started to empty out some. However, that didn't stop people from stopping by Mettaton's table and asking him for a picture or autograph. By the time your manager was shooing out stray customers to close, even she ended up being excited to meet him. Mettaton ended up waiting for you outside the building.

"Mettaton? What are you doing?" You ask, walking up to him. He holds up a pair of keys and presses a button, and the lights on an SUV go off.

"I couldn't just leave you to make your own way home, now could I?" Mettaton smiles and guides you to his car.

"Always a gentleman," You say as he opens the door for you, "Actually, I take that back. Not always." He makes a face at you and closes the door, getting in on the driver's side.

"It was nice of you to stop by." You say when he pulls out.

"What can I say darling, I'm a nice guy." He smirks and you scoff and tap him on the arm. "Driving!"

"Oh, whatever."  
  


Your next week is spent at home, alone, since the coffee shop you frequented was now going to be covered of die-hard fans and reporters. Luckily, whenever he could, Mettaton would talk to you, over text or Snapchat. He'd send you various snaps of random things that were happening or what he was doing, or just pictures of himself because of that oh-so-charming narcissism of his. In response you'd take a picture of someone's face on whatever you were watching, or use the Snapchat filters on them. You missed being with people, but at least you were talking to him.

Overall, things were going okay.


	3. Day 55 // The Lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 3,456

Your phone goes off. Opening the text, you smile at the contact name.

_**MTT Brand Booty - I have a question for you, darling. I'm going to the lab for upgrades today. How would you feel about coming with me?** _

_**Hell yeah! When are we leaving?** _

_**MTT Brand Booty - Now. I'm out back.** _

You go over to your window and sure enough, Mettaton's in his car looking up at you. He waves and smiles. You roll your eyes but return his smile. Quickly you fix your hair, throw on a flannel, and grab your phone charger and keys to leave.

"Greetings, loved ones." Mettaton says in a low voice when you get in the car. You pause buckling and look at him.

"Did... did you just reference Snoop Dogg?" You ask him in disbelief. He nods and grins eagerly. "How do you even know that song?? It's old as fuck!"

"Maybe so, but it is by Katy Perry." He replies, starting the car and driving out.

"Okay, fair enough."

"I like what she does with the cupcakes." Mettaton says.

" _Okay_ , subject change," You say, Mettaton laughing at your expression.

"What?" He asks, glancing to you.

"Didn't need to know that, thanks." You reply, your voice holding a hint of annoyance but you break out into a smile nonetheless.

"So, how do you feel about meeting Alphys and Undyne?" Mettaton complies to your subject change.

"Excited? A small part of me wants to make a good impression." You say.

"I thought you didn't care what others thought of you?" Mettaton looks at you at a red light.

"Well, I don't, but at the same time, you're the most famous person there is who's friends with the most brilliant scientist in the world, whose girlfriend, from what I've heard, can punt me out of the atmosphere. So, I kind of don't wanna make an ass out of myself." You chuckle nervously.

"I see," Mettaton nods with a thoughtful look on his face, "I see how that can be a bit overwhelming."

"Ya think?" You ask sarcastically.

"Don't you sass me," Mettaton retorts, glancing at you again.

You click your tongue, "Girl, do not, even get me started." Mettaton chuckles at your 'basic white girl' voice.

"Well, here we are." He says, pulling into a parking lot in front of a huge white building with 'LAB' in large red letters on it.

"Is this all the lab?" You ask, and he simply nods. "Wow. Damn." Getting out of the car, you look up at the building.

"Ready to go darling?" Mettaton turns back to you and locks the car.

"Yeah, man, let's do it." You say, walking towards the building. You trail behind Mettaton just barely, and because of that he can't see the huge smile on your face.

Mettaton goes up to the doors and rings the bell. Up and left of the door frame, a camera moves to point at him.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice comes through an unseen speaker.

Mettaton scoffs and crosses his arms, "You are looking right at me Undyne, you know who it is." A second of silence passes and the doors slide open.

"Guess who's here~?" Mettaton sings as he steps into the lab. He strikes a pose, spreading out his arms and legs. You make a split second decision and gently kick Mettaton in the back of his knee. There's a click and a yelp as the joint gives out and he falls to his knees, followed by uproarious laughter.

"Hey!" Mettaton turns to you at the same time a voice says "Undyne!"

"I'm sorry, Alphy, but that was too funny." Undyne says as you help Mettaton up. "Who is this girl, I like her already!" The two of them walk over to you and Mettaton.

"Alphys, Undyne, this is Katrina." Mettaton introduces you. You shake Undyne's hand and nod, matching her firm grip, which you can tell she respects. Then you shake Alphys's hand, and nod again.

"It's an honor to meet you, Doctor." You say, unable to stop yourself from grinning.

Alphys is taken aback, "A- an honor? No."

"What? Of course! You're the most brilliant and inventive person or monster to ever live! As someone in a similar line of work, meeting you is outstanding." You exclaim, stopping yourself before you ramble. Out of the corner of your eye you can see Mettaton is surprised by your behavior.

"W- well, thank you," Alphys says nervously. You smile at her as Mettaton takes over.

"It's good to see you again," He says to Alphys and hugs her, following suit by saying "you too" to Undyne and shaking her hand.

"Alright, alright, let's get this show on the road losers!" Undyne yells, getting louder with each word. Alphys makes a small shrug at Mettaton and they take off, immediately talking. Undyne follows them, so you trail behind as well. The group goes into a large room filled with machines and equipment of all sorts. You look around in awe, instantly amazed and engaged by everything you see.

"Katrina?" Mettaton calls out to you. You wave him off as you walk around, navigating through the metal tables.

"Sh, shut up I'm nerding," You say without even looking in his direction. You're so engrossed in what you're doing you don't even hear him talking to you.

"Hey, hello," Mettaton waves a hand in front of your face, "Come on sweetheart, you can look at everything later."

"You're not my mother." You say, finally looking at him, but end up following him back to Alphys. Undyne then barges in the room, carrying a huge metal box over her head.

"Got it!" She cheers, basically dropping the box on a table. It makes a loud noise and both Alphys and Mettaton cringe.

"Thanks, Undyne." Alphys says, going over to the box to inspect it. Undyne gives her a huge, teeth-filled grin, which is almost menacing, then walks over to where you stand. For a few minutes, the two of you stand side by side watching Alphys and Mettaton talk.

"What did you do to him?" Undyne looks down at you and you tense up.

"What?"

"He's different. Lately, he's been acting... happier. He's more lively, he has a better sense of humor. He's less douchey and selfish and egotistical." Undyne looks back at him and you cock your head, then look at him as well. You were trying to come up with something to say when he calls you over.

"What's up?" You ask, jogging the short distance to him and Alphys.

"Alphys here was just telling me how long this procedure is going to take, and I figured since you have experience in the field, you might be able to help! What do you say, darling?" Mettaton looks at you expectantly. You blink a couple times, processing, and look over at Alphys.

"Hell I'd be glad to try, if it's okay with you... I don't really think I'm anywhere near qualified to work on something as complicated as this, though." You glance from Alphys to Mettaton and back again.

"Nonsense! You have a master's degree, I'm sure you'll do just fine." Mettaton waves off your doubts and the both of you look to Alphys for an answer. She looks between you, thinking.

"I- I'd be glad to have your help." She says, looking up at you. Your hands go up to cover the smile on your face. After taking a second to gather your composure, you look back at her.

"Okay. Where do we start?" Now it's Mettaton's turn to smile; you can just see him through your peripherals.

"Well first we need to move Mettaton to his old body so we can start work on his EX form. From there I'll be doing a number of things, including integrating hardware that'll improve his nervous system, giving him improved hands so he won't have to wear gloves all the time, installing a chip that will improve his cognitive functions, improving his ability to eat and drink, adding the ability for him to 'breathe', and I'll probably end up doing some more things along the way. Not to mention that I have to update his programming to accompany all of this. Now normally this would take me around 5 days, but with your help it'll go faster." Alphys spoke at such a fast pace you could hear Undyne struggling to keep up behind you. You took everything in and nodded as she spoke.

"Let's get going then." You could've sworn you saw Alphys crack the tiniest smile at that. She turned to a machine and started tapping away.

"A- Alright, Mettaton, I'm gonna shut you down." Alphys says without looking away from the monitor.

"I hate this part." Mettaton says to you quietly as mechanical arms come down and grab him in multiple places. Alphys hits something and the light in his eyes go out, his body going limp. She leans over to him and flips some switches on his body, and then the machines start pulling him apart. You make a sort of uncomfortable sound and Alphys glances to you.

"Are you okay?" She asks, looking back at the screen.

"Yep, just watching my friend slowly be dismembered. I'm good." You give her a thumbs up and she laughs a little. As disturbing as it was, you couldn't look away. Mettaton's head and limbs were taken off, and as they were pulled away you could see the connecting wires.

"Do me a favor and flick those switches there," Alphys says, pointing to Mettaton, "and take his soul tank out of his torso." The case his soul was in was the only part of him not being touched by the machines. You gently lift it out and step back, holding it carefully in your hands. This was everything he was, everything he is in one little heart. His entire being was in your hands, and he and Alphys were trusting you with it.

You're pulled out of your thoughts when Alphys is taking the tank out of your hands. By the time you look at her she's halfway over to the metal box Undyne brought in earlier. It was upright now, someone must have moved it without you noticing, and Alphys goes behind it and puts the tank in. You watch as she fiddles with some things for a minute, then closes it and steps back.

"HELLLLOO BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES!!" A more mechanical-sounding version of Mettaton's voice blares throughout the room as the box lights up, making you jump and raise your hands into fists from being startled. Arms come out from the sides and a wheel from the bottom, and Mettaton is back in action in his old form. He pushes himself off the table but before he can go anywhere Alphys turns down his volume to a bearable level.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, DARLING?" Mettaton wheels over to you and spins around.

"I think you look like a calculator that has Mickey Mouse hands on a unicycle." You snicker, and Mettaton comes to a stop and gasps.

"WOW. THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR." He says, holding up a finger, and before you can react he's picked you up and is speeding down the hallway. You let out a little shriek, but once you become accustomed to it it's enjoyable.

"Is this supposed to be a punishment?" You say through your laughter.

"YOU FORGET, DARLING, THAT I CAN'T GET DIZZY OR MOTION SICK." Mettaton replies, and starts spinning around in one spot as fast as he can. He holds you above him to make you feel the effects more.

"Fun fact," You say, holding up your finger, "I don't become motion sick from spinning. Only dizzy." After 10 or so seconds more he puts you down, and catches you when you stumble.

"Thanks," You giggle, looking up at him, "Wooo, the room's spinning!"

"OH DEAR." Is all Mettaton says, then carrying you back at a slower pace. By the time he sets you down in front of Alphys, you're no longer dizzy.

"Well," You breathe, straightening your back, "That was an adventure." Alphys gives you a look that says 'Oh, I know.'

"IT SEEMS THAT I WASN'T AT A FULL CHARGE WHEN POWERING UP. I'LL HAVE TO DO THAT NOW." Mettaton says, going over to a corner of the room and plugging some cable he pulled out of himself into the wall socket.

"HAVE FUN DARLINGS!" He powers down.

"I imagine your electricity bill is high." You say to Alphys, looking at Mettaton.

"Y- You have no idea."

 

"... A- And since his systems haven't been used, h- he's always a little out of it whenever he switches b- bodies or wakes up." Alphys says, stifling a yawn.

"Dude, go to bed." You look at her, taking a moment to crack your back.

"Well, I- I wouldn't want to leave you alone in here..." She glances as you and wrings her hands out nervously.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. You're tired, you need to sleep. Get some rest." You wave her off with a small smile.

"Al- alright. T- thank you." Alphys backs out of the room, and once the clicking of her footsteps becomes too distant to hear, you're left in nothing but the sound of your work.

She was having you help with his nervous system, putting little chips and wires throughout his body. It was an easy task, but it was time consuming. After you had finished that, you were to connect his new hands to his arms.

Hours passed. Before you knew it, there was sunlight peaking in the doorway. You had yet to stop working. There was beeping in the corner of the room, but it didn't bother you. You were focused.

Minutes later, you could hear Mettaton rolling towards you, giving off little beeps here and there. You didn't look up at him.

"DARLING, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT THIS?" Mettaton asks, turning down his own volume.

"Don't know. Since you started charging." You say, your voice gravelly.

"THAT WAS 12 HOURS AGO! HAVE YOU EATEN ANYTHING?" He moves around you, beeping some more.

"No." You reply curtly.

"YOU HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN UP, HAVE YOU?" Mettaton would be frowning if he had the parts to do so. You shake your head, not even bothering to speak.

"SWEETHEART, YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF." He scolds gently. When you don't respond he just sighs and goes to your side.

"Don't even think about it. I will take your arms from you. Don't test me." You say, anticipating his actions.

"WHO NEEDS ARMS WITH LEGS LIKE THESE?" Mettaton references a very old episode of his. For the first time, you stop, and slowly look up at him. You stare at him, expressionless, for a good 10 seconds before you resume your work.

"Your legs are currently on a table detached from a body that you're not even in. I don't think they're of very much use to you right now." You respond.

Mettaton scoffs, "OF COURSE THEY'RE OF USE TO ME. JUST LOOK AT THEM." You shake your head.

"I've completely finished installing all the stuff for the nervous system. I just need to-" You pause as you click a part into place, "do your hands."

"ARE YOU EVEN TIRED?" Mettaton asks.

"Meh. Kind of, but focusing helps ward it off. Six years of college 'll do that to ya." You say with a shrug. There's a comfortable silence after that, and you lose track of time.

"And done! Finally." You lazily put your arms up, standing and stepping back. Your back cracks loudly as you stretch, Mettaton cringing at the noise.

"THAT SOUNDS PAINFUL." He says.

"It feels good, actually. Really good." You twist a certain way and there's a pop. "Ohhhh yeah. There we go."

"NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY, YOU'RE EATING AND GOING TO SLEEP. COME ON." Mettaton takes your hand and pulls you forward, dragging you to the kitchen and sitting you down at the table.

"OF COURSE, ALPHYS HAS NOTHING TO EAT." Mettaton mutters as he looks through various cupboards and the fridge.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." You say, putting your head down and closing your eyes. Mettaton says something about running out to get you something, but you are already half asleep and don't hear him.

Mettaton rolls back into the kitchen 30 minutes later to see you passed out at the table, and Alphys and Undyne having breakfast on either side of you. They look at him and Undyne chuckles.

"Late night?" Undyne asks him.

"SHE WORKED NONSTOP ALL NIGHT, AND HAD PROBABLY BEEN AWAKE FOR 24 HOURS BEFORE FINALLY FALLING ASLEEP HALF AN HOUR AGO." Mettaton explains, scratching his side aimlessly.

"W- What?! Why?!" Alphys whisper-yells to avoid waking you up.

"SHE REFUSED TO STOP UNTIL SHE HAD FINISHED EVERYTHING. OH, AND YOU CAN SPEAK NORMALLY, BY THE WAY. SHE WON'T WAKE UP." Before Alphys can respond, Undyne looks at Mettaton eagerly.

"How would you know that, huh?!" She smirks, raising an eyebrow.

"BECAUSE SHE TOLD ME." The lights on Mettaton's chassis change to form the '-_-' expression. Undyne coughs, saying "Ishipit" while doing so.

"I- I'll go see how Katrina did." Alphys says, nervous to get out of the situation.

Mettaton lights up an exclamation point, "OH! I'LL GO WITH YOU, I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU THINK. I'M CERTAIN SHE DID FABULOUSLY, FROM WHAT I SAW WHILE WATCHING HER. SHE'S A VERY DILIGENT WORKER." He says excitedly, ushering Alphys down the hall.

"M- Mettaton, I- I think we left Undyne to clean up," Alphys says. The two of them hear a "HEY!!" From the kitchen half a second later.

"OH, I'M SURE SHE'LL BE FINE." Mettaton waves it off, carrying on, and Alphys is left to look worriedly at the kitchen and follow him.

 

When you wake up, your right hand's fallen asleep and Mettaton's next to you on your phone.

"What are you doing?" You ask him groggily, rubbing your eyes with your left hand.

"DARLING! YOU'RE AWAKE!" He looks up from your phone at you, putting one hand on your shoulder. "HOW DO YOU FEEL?"

"Tired," You yawn, "and unmedicated."

"WE CAN FIX THAT. WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP I WENT OVER TO YOUR PLACE TO PICK YOU UP SOME THINGS." Mettaton takes his hand off your shoulder to gesture to a bag on the floor.

"Oh, thank you." You say, leaning down and digging through it until you found the two pill bottles you needed. When you sit back up there's a glass of water in front of you.

You look at Mettaton, "You know what, I'm not even going to ask. What were you doing on my phone?"

"OH! I'VE BEEN TALKING TO YOUR BROTHER." Mettaton says, and you almost choke on your water.

"You're talking," You pause, "to Tony? Why?!?"

"HE WAS BLOWING UP YOUR PHONE, WORRIED ABOUT YOU, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WERE. SO I USED YOUR THUMB TO UNLOCK YOUR PHONE AND TOLD HIM YOU WERE OKAY! I EVEN TOOK A PICTURE WITH YOU AND SENT IT TO HIM. REGARDLESS, HE DIDN'T TAKE IT VERY WELL AT FIRST... BUT THINGS ARE FINE NOW!" Mettaton explained cheerily.

"Of course he didn't," You mutter, putting your hands in your hair, "and of course I forgot to tell him I was leaving. Whoops."

"YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM ABOUT ME?" Mettaton asks suddenly, and you swear there's an undertone of hurt in his voice.

"Well, I tried. He didn't believe me. Always thought I was lying and doing other things." You shrug, giving him a sad smile.

"WHY WOULD HE THINK YOU WERE LYING, DARLING?" He says.

"I'm a good liar...?" Your sad smile turns to a sheepish one, and Mettaton's silence provokes you to say more. "I don't tell him much. I'm a secretive person, and I live a very private life, even from the people I care about. That worries him." You rub the back of your neck as an excuse to look away from him.

Mettaton hums, "WELL, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT DARLING, THINGS ARE SETTLED NOW."

"Thanks..?" You look at him briefly before averting your eyes again. You stand up, "Well, I should go and help Alphys,-" Mettaton grabs your arm suddenly, preventing you from going anywhere.

"OH NO YOU DON'T. YOU'RE EATING SOMETHING FIRST. THEN YOU CAN GO HELP." He says, his grip strong enough to prove his point.

"Alright, fine." You give a little huff of annoyance, but sit back down, knowing that he's only doing it because he cares about you.

He cares about you.

Wait. He cares about you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of feel like these first few chapters have been a bit ooc. Tell me what you think?


	4. Day 90 // A Key Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 2,775

"Hello~" Mettaton sang as he opened the door to your apartment. You turned around to face him, a smile on your face.

"Hey. Oh, lock the door, please?" You ask, draping your arms over the back of your couch. Mettaton locks the door and you thank him.

"How are you today, darling?" He asks with a smile, sitting down next to you.

"Great, now that you're here; oh, and I got you something!" You lean over, picking up a small box from under the couch and holding it out to him in the palm of your hand.

Mettaton gasps, and puts a hand over his mouth, "Ohhhh look at the cute little bow on it! That's adorable~"

"Well, if I had known you would have that reaction, I would have just gotten you the bow," You joke.

"I'm sorry darling, that is just too cute. But, if that's on the outside, I can't wait to see what's on the inside!" Mettaton says cheerily.

"Well, I have a feeling you're going to be underwhelmed," You chuckle, glancing at the ring box, "but after seeing you almost every day for three months you've become pretty much my best friend. I don't know how you have the time for me or why you even bother, but I appreciate it, and I trust you enough to give you this." You open the box to reveal a key in the place of where a ring would be. Mettaton's tearing up at your little speech, his hands back over his mouth.

"The key to my heart," You grin, "I'm kidding, it's just a spare to my apartment, but I wanted you to have it." Mettaton doesn't say anything, but instead wraps you in a tight hug.

"Oh, come on now, that's nothing to choke up about," You say over his shoulder. "It's just a key." Despite what you're saying, his reaction makes you happy.

"No, I'm just," He lets you go and fans himself, "happy you would trust me with something like this, darling. It means a lot to me."

You cock your head, but from looking at him you can tell that some past events impacted him. Part of you wants to ask about it, but you decide against it. Instead, you wordlessly take the key and put it in his palm, then close his fist around it. Mettaton chokes out a small sob and now it's your turn to hug him.

"I'm sorry," He starts to say, but you interrupt him.

"You don't have you explain." You shake your head minutely, your voice low and soft.

"No, I should." Mettaton pulls away from you so you let him go, and he wipes at the tears in his eyes.

"I wasn't always a robot. Before, I was a ghost." Mettaton glances as you. "I lived on a snail farm with my three cousins." He stops. "Is none of this surprising to you?"

You shake your head. "Nope."

"Eventually, two of my cousins left to become corporeal, leaving my cousin Napstablook and I to run the farm. Blooky asked if I was going to leave as well, and I promised them I wouldn't. While back then I had dreams of being a star, I never thought I would find a body I would be comfortable in and had come to accept that. However, that all changed once I met Alphys." He takes a breath, and continues.

"After knowing Alphys for a while we became good friends, and one day she surprised me by saying she had something for me. I went to her lab and she showed me my old form, you know the one, and the torso of this one. The old one was made to be an 'entertainment bot,' a placeholder until my EX form was finished. When I saw I had the opportunity to make my dreams come true, I immediately jumped at it - but in the process, breaking my promise to Blooky and completely abandoning them."

"After that I started my work of becoming 'the idol that everyone craves,' the 'sole star of the Underground'. I gained popularity quickly, and the bigger I got... the worse of a monster I became. By the time Frisk came around I would completely ignore Alphys unless I needed her for something - bless her heart, she continued to work on my EX form anyway - and overall, I became a selfish, egotistical jerk." Mettaton takes another moment.

"I did some bad things in my time then. I totally obliterated the trust of people who cared about me, who I used to care about- and I betrayed them. Once Frisk broke the barrier to the Underground and we were freed, I finally realized the things I had done. I went back and apologized, but the damage had been done, and it took a long time for anyone to trust me again. I still feel like there's a barrier between Alphys and I and Blooky and I because of it, and I don't know if it will ever go away."

"But anyway, that's why it means so much to me that you trust me." As he says that last sentence, a stray tear rolls down his face, so you reach out and wipe it away. He looks up at you for the first time since beginning to talk.

"Mett, we all make mistakes. We all do bad things, things we aren't proud of, and that's okay. That's a part of living. It sucks, but as long as you learn from what happened, it's okay." You hug him again, "You're okay. I don't judge you for your past actions. I trust you. You're okay." You say, returning to that soft voice. For a while you just sit there and hold him, whispering comforting things to him every so often.

"Thank you." Mettaton says finally, breaking the hug but taking your hands in his and looking you in the eyes. "Thank you."

The two of you end up curled up together on the couch, watching some TV show on Netflix. Mettaton's arm is around you, and you're leaning against his shoulder/chest, the warmth he creates almost putting you to sleep.

Interestingly enough, he falls asleep first, which you didn't even know he could do accidentally. Being careful not to wake him you got up and went to the bathroom, then getting some water. As you stand in the kitchen holding your glass, your eyes wander to Mettaton's sleeping form, and you smile.

You had no idea how you were able to find someone like him. You were one of the luckiest people in the world, you thought, to have a friendship with him. And, for the first time in years, you decided that you'd actually be a bit sad if he left your life. If past experiences had taught you anything, it was to stop caring when people came and went, so you did - until now. Now Mettaton came, and he made you care.

You quietly entertained yourself for a while to let your friend sleep, though it didn't last very long. He was only asleep for about thirty minutes before his phone went off, waking him up. He groaned and reached down to the floor to grab his phone, turning off the alarm and standing up.

"Good morning," You teased once he turned around to face you, "enjoy your nap?"

"You know what?" Mettaton said, taking a few strides toward you.

"What?" There was a mischievous look in Mettaton's eyes but you couldn't help but egg him on. He grabbed your arms and bent down enough so that he could speak directly into your ear.

"It's two in the afternoon." Mettaton whispered in the lowest and most sultry voice he could manage, making you shiver instinctively. Then he stood back up straight without taking his hands off your arms.

"Anyway, I have an interview that I've got to get going for, but I'll be back in an hour or two, okay?" Mettaton said, his demeanor changing. He pulled you into a hug and kissed the top of your head, and then he was gone, leaving you standing there staring at the door and wondering what the hell just happened.

An hour and a half later you were sitting on your bed, guitar in hand and playing one of your favorite songs. You didn't hear Mettaton open the front door or come in, nor did you feel his presence behind you, leaning against your doorframe as he watched you. You also didn't see the way his eyes lit up and the smile on his face when you started singing, or the way he looked at you with absolute adoration.

When the song was over, Mettaton started clapping, and you whirled around to face him.

"Uh... Hi." You laughed nervously, rubbing the back of your neck and looking away.

"That was fantastic darling!" Mettaton cheered while still standing there and applauding you. You were pretty sure you were blushing.

"Play me another one?" Mettaton's request was met by you snapping your head up to look at him so fast you almost hurt yourself.

"Uh-hm, like what?" You stammered. Mettaton obviously picked up on your nervousness at this point, but didn't do anything about it- and secretly, you were glad for the opportunity to perform in front of someone.

Mettaton shrugged and gave you a reassuring smile, so you moved around on your bed to sit in a better spot where you could face him and he could sit there too. Gingerly, you replaced your left hand on the neck of the guitar, took a deep breath, and put your heart into your hands and voice.

After that first song you eased up and became a lot more comfortable, and Mettaton was happily watching as you played song after song. After each one he'd ask you what it was called and who it was by, and then he'd ask you to play another.

"Oh I liked that one! What was that called?" Mettaton asked for the umpteenth time.

"That one was called 'From Time To Time,' and it was actually written by me." You said, and Mettaton completely stopped his movement to stare at you.

"You made that?" He asked after a moment.

You nodded and smiled, "Lyrics and all," you gestured to your guitar.

"I didn't know you wrote! That was incredibly well done!" Mettaton praised.

"Thank you. You're the first person to ever hear that song, so I'm glad you like it." You grinned, shaking out your left hand.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry dear, I totally forgot to think about your hands hurting! Are you okay?" Mettaton asked immediately after his eyes caught your movement.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks," You said, but Mettaton had already gotten a grip on your hand and was pulling you up.

"Okay, okay, just let me put the guitar back, geez," You laughed, grabbing the guitar and setting it in it's place in the corner of your room. The second it was steady Mettaton swept you off your feet and carried you to the living room.

"Hey! Mettaton!" You yelped, giggling and squirming before you realized it would do you no good. When he put you down on the couch, his hand brushed your side, and you accidentally squeaked and tensed up, causing him to freeze.

"Oh no." You said, staring up at Mettaton. His face slowly turned to a grin, and his eyes flashed with mischief.

"Oh no. No, no no nonono-" You were cut off by your own laughter as Mettaton pinned you down and tickled your sides mercilessly. After a couple of minutes of your thrashing and some very interesting noises, he finally stopped, leaving you breathing heavily.

"Oh thank god," You breathed in relief. Mettaton chuckled and asked if you were okay, to which you just nodded.

"Well, um," You glanced down at the situation the two of you were in, "this is provocative." You looked back up to meet Mettaton's eyes and let out a small giggle, biting your lip as you did so. Mettaton looked down and noticed the way he was straddling your hips, and how he hovered over you with his hands on either side of your head. He looked back at you nervously and you smiled, winking and grazing your teeth over your bottom lip just to mess with him. His internal fans kicked in.

Mettaton looked away from you and you let out a laugh, while your mind was screaming " _Rest your forehead on mine!!_ " And other various things at him. Unfortunately for you, he backed off, and the two of you sat side by side again. You ended up going back to Netflix, and like before you curled up to his side and he put his arm around you.

"You're warm." You muttered absentmindedly, shifting against him. Mettaton rubbed your arm, and took your hand.

"And you're cold." He replied lightheartedly when he felt your fingertips. You hummed your acknowledgement and he put both your hands between his to warm them.

"There you go, darling. Is that better?" Mettaton asked. You didn't need to look at him to know he was smiling. You thanked him and buried your feet in between the cushions to keep them warm as well.

Time passed, and the two of you were having a good time until you had to go to work again. As per usual, you let out a long, frustrated groan and reluctantly pulled yourself off the couch and away from Mettaton to get ready to go. He drove you to work again, got a table (though this time by himself), and stayed there.

"Why are you still here?" You jokingly asked him two hours into your shift.

"Why not?" Mettaton shrugged with a grin.

You almost said "Because someone like you should be doing better things with their time," but instead held your tounge and settled with chuckling and walking off while shaking your head.

Three hours into your shift, customer traffic picked up. Considering it was a Monday night, business seemed unusually busy. You learned why when you looked out and saw that there was a mass of Mettaton fans waiting to get in. Laughing nervously to yourself, you went over to Mettaton as soon as you had the chance.

"Uh, do you see that?" You asked him. He looked up you and hummed questioningly, so you directed his attention to the front of the place. Upon seeing Mettaton stand up a couple of girls screamed. He quickly gained his composure and waved at the group, smiling, and then sat back down.

"You're not gonna do anything about that?" You asked as he faced you again.

"What could I do, darling? Besides, I'm sure the owners will enjoy the increase in customers." Mettaton smiled at you again. You could feel some of his fans glaring at you, so you smiled back at him and walked off.

For the next hour, you stepped the playful flirting with him up a notch, just so you could get reactions out of jealous fans who kept their eyes on you. You laughed at the way they stared you down, and decided that if looks could kill, you'd have been dead 100 times over by now. Needless to say, you were having a lot of fun at your job that day.

Some time into the fourth hour of your shift, Mettaton's presence (and large crowd) had drawn the attention of a journalist, who watched the two of you interacting with immense scrutiny. They sat down at Mettaton's table and he allowed them to ask a few questions.

"You seem to have an interesting dynamic with your waitress here." You overheard them comment.

"Well, yes, we're good friends." Mettaton replied without hesitation, making you smile even though your back was turned.

"Now, there's some speculation that she's also the mystery girl you've been seen with multiple times over the last few months. What do you have to say about that?" The reporter slid over some articles and pictures about the two of you together. Mettaton glanced at them and looked at you urgently.

You gave him a helpless look and a shrug in return, so he looked back at the journalist and replied "No comment."

"Right, because that isn't suspicious at all," You teased quietly when you walked by him. The journalist raised an eyebrow at the scene but thanked Mettaton for his time nonetheless, then getting up and disappearing to wherever they came from. Mettaton gave a quiet laugh, but he couldn't help but feel that something was going to go wrong.

 


	5. Day 104 // Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 4,856

_"Darling?"_

_"Yeah, what's up?" You looked over to Mettaton._

_"I was wondering..." He started, and you cocked your head. Mettaton felt a little bit nervous for a reason he couldn't place but quickly shook himself out of it._

_"I was wondering if you would like to go to Frisk's birthday party with me?" Mettaton asked, looking at you hopefully._

So now, here you were, sitting in passenger seat of Mettaton's car as he drove you there. Mettaton had spent the drive telling you about the monster ambassador and their journey through the underground. He also said some things about the former monster king and queen, who had adopted Frisk. In truth, you couldn't really listen to everything he was saying. If you were slightly nervous when meeting Alphys and Undyne, then now the pressure was really on. On top of that, Frisk was a little kid, and you didn't do very well around children. However, Mettaton didn't know that, and you intended to keep him from finding out.

"Here we are~" Mettaton said in a sing-song voice as he pulled the car to a stop. You sat in a large driveway filled with multiple other cars, and couldn't help but be intimidated by the large white house in front of you. You could call it a mansion, with a huge lawn and a large garden with lots of shrubbery.

"You ready, darling?" Mettaton asked. You hummed and nodded and undid your seatbelt, getting out of the car. Mettaton locked it and the two of you began to walk to the door.

"That's all King Asgore's," Mettaton said, noticing your observation of the greenery.

"If he's no longer king, then why do you still address him as such?" You asked, looking over at him. Mettaton seemed to think about that.

"I suppose he's not officially, but us monsters still respect him as king. Besides, old habits die hard, and royalty doesn't just fall away." Mettaton reasoned. The two of you climbed a few steps to the front door, and just as Mettaton held up his hand to knock it swung open.

"METTATON! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! PLEASE, COME IN!" A tall skeleton wearing a party hat greeted you. You recognized him as one of the monsters Mettaton had accompanying him the first time he went to see you at work.

"HUMAN! I, AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU! SAY, YOU LOOK FAMILIAR, HAVE WE MET BEFORE? NO MATTER, COME INSIDE! THE PARTY'S JUST BEGINNING!" Papyrus grabbed your arm and pulled you inside the house before you had the chance to react.

"woah, bro, careful there. we don't want our guest to feel _dragged_ into anything, now do we?" A shorter skeleton appeared beside the first.

"SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed, dropping your arm. You snickered at Sans's pun as Mettaton came to your side.

"Sorry about that, sweetheart. Papyrus can be a bit... excitable." Mettaton explained quietly, leaning down so he could speak in your ear.

"It's okay." You shook your head and gave a small smile.

"i don't think we've met. the name's sans." The shorter skeleton stepped up to you and offered his hand. You reached out, as if you were going to shake it, but instead of grasping his hand you pulled out the whoopie cushion he had been holding. His eyesockets widened, and while he was taken aback you shook his hand.

"wow. no one's ever done that before." Was all he said as you gave his toy back to him.

"I guess you could say I've left you flabbergasted." You grinned cheekily.

"not bad, kid," Was accompanied by Papyrus yelling "NOT YOU TOO!" You laughed, and could hear Mettaton chuckle quietly behind you.

"My name's Katrina. It's good to meet you." You said to the skeleton brothers.

"I think we should go say hi to Frisk. How about it darling?" Mettaton stepped forward, putting his arm around your shoulders.

"Sure," You smiled at him, and with a wave to your newfound acquaintances were led to another room. As soon as the two of you stepped foot in the new area Frisk noticed Mettaton and happily ran over to him.

"Mettaton!" They signed happily before hugging him.

"Hi, darling! Happy birthday!" Mettaton exclaimed and returned the hug, "My, you have grown!" Frisk nodded excitedly and told Mettaton that they had grown a couple of inches since he last saw them. Now Frisk noticed you, and turned to you.

"Hey there. I hear you're kind of a big shot around here." You greeted them with a small smile, holding one hand out with the other behind your back in your typical fashion. Frisk shook your hand, head tilted in curiosity.

"This is Katrina, she's a friend of mine." Mettaton explained before you had the chance to do so yourself. When Frisk pulled their hand back they found a twenty dollar bill in it, much to their surprise.

"Make good use of it." You said when they looked up at you in astonishment. Frisk began to thank you when they were cut off.

"Hey Frisk! Dude! Come on!" Said a young monster who appeared to be about Frisk's age as they barreled into their friend. Frisk quickly thanked you and excused themselves with a guilty smile as they were headbutted away.

"That was nice of you." Mettaton commented, turning your attention to him.

"You think so? I wish I had more to give 'em, but I just don't have that kind of money... I remember when I was younger I was super excited to just get money, because then I could do what I wanted with it." You reminisced, a small smile gracing your face.

"I'm sure Frisk doesn't care about the amount." Mettaton reassured you. You glanced around the room, then looked back at him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." You smiled.

"Hey, punk! I didn't know you would be here!" Undyne called, and you spun around to face her.

"Neither did I," You joked, and shook her hand, "good to see you again. Doctor Alphys." You greeted the small lizard with a nod as she appeared from behind her girlfriend. Mettaton greeted them as well, and the three of them chatted for a bit as you looked around the room absentmindedly.

"Oh, dear I'm so sorry." Mettaton spoke and placed his hand on your shoulder, causing you to snap out of your daze.

"Huh?" You looked at him, blinking a few times and registering that Alphys and Undyne were no longer there. Mettaton said something that you didn't register as you stared at him.

"No, it's fine." You said, figuring that he was talking about whatever he apologized for.

"Let's go find the others," You suggested, and Mettaton seemed appeased at your subject change as you lead him out of the room. When the two of you found where everybody else had gathered, Mettaton gasped.

"Blooky!" He called out happily and sped over to his cousin, wrapping the ghost in a hug. You walked over to the two, smiling to yourself at Mettaton's ecstatic expression. Deciding against approaching them directly you leaned against a wall a couple of yards away, watching as Mettaton caught up with his cousin.

"Excuse me, but I don't believe I know you," Came a voice from your right. You whipped your head around to face them, tensing up.

"Uh," You froze without Mettaton by your side.

"My name's Katrina. I'm a friend of Mettaton's." You laughed nervously, sticking your thumb behind you to where your friend was conversating.

"Hello, Toriel." Mettaton said as he put a hand on your shoulder, making you jump. The two were too busy exchanging formalities to notice you curse under your breath as you clutched your chest.

"Don't do that!" You scolded, hitting Mettaton's arm lightly. Your nervousness had dissipated with the return of Mettaton's presence.

He laughed, "Sorry, darling." Mettaton and Toriel said a few quick words that you weren't listening too; instead, you were observing the goat-woman in front of you. She was tall, maybe an inch taller than Mettaton, and you were wondering how she spoke since her mouth wasn't that of a human's- then again, very few monsters had that. You shrugged it off as monster magic.

The next thing you knew you were waving goodbye to Toriel and Mettaton was walking you in the other direction.

"Thanks for, saving me, I guess?" You said to him.

"No problem, sweetheart," He chuckled, but then his voice gained a more serious undertone, "Sorry for just leaving you like that."

"Don't worry about it." You looked him in the eye as you spoke to assure him you meant it. Then, to get him out of his somber mood, you spoke again.

"Where's Napstablook?" Mettaton's entire attitude changed at your question.

"Oh! Blooky!" Mettaton called for his cousin, and suddenly the ghost appeared in front of him.

"Blooky, this is the friend I was telling you about." Mettaton said, motioning to you.

"It's good to finally meet you." You said, extending a hand to them. Hesitantly, a small ectoplasmic hand met yours, and it took all your self control to keep a straight face and not audibly 'aww'.

"it's good....to meet you too......" Napstablook said quietly.

"Hey, I'm gonna go find a bathroom, okay?" You said to both of them, looking between the two. Mettaton nodded and gave his acknowledgement, and you excused yourself from them.

You didn't need to go to the bathroom at all, really. The truth was that you needed a moment from all the people. You weren't used to social scenes, and you were feeling crowded and nauseous.

As you came around a corner, you almost bumped into someone, but quickly stopped yourself.

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't see you there." Said a voice. It took a second to realize you were staring at a chest, and you looked upwards.

"Are you okay?" Asked the goat monster. You had to crane your neck to look up at him, as he had to be a foot or so taller than Mettaton and Toriel.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright, thanks," You grinned nervously, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Are you lost?" He asked you, stepping back so you didn't have to look straight up to see his face.

"I was just looking for the bathroom." From looking at his stature, you thought that this might be King Asgore. Putting it simply, the guy was _huge_ , you thought.

"Ah, yes. There's one two doors down the hall to your left." Asgore pointed toward it. You quickly thanked him and scampered off to your save haven, needing a break from social interaction for a bit.

You shut the bathroom door behind you, and slid down it with a sigh. You sat there with your head in your knees for a second.

"You tired of them all too, huh?" A voice said, making you look up at where it came from. On the counter sat a small flower pot with a single buttercup in it. You raised an eyebrow at the talking flower, but were also too worn out to really care.

"Why are you just chilling in the bathroom?" You asked it from your spot on the floor.

"Why are you?" It returned. You took a second to think about that.

"Okay, fair enough. What if someone had to go to the bathroom though?" You asked, head tilted.

"I'd tell 'em to hold it." The flower replied shortly, making you snort. A comfortable silence fell between the two of you, and you rested your head against the door, looking up.

"So who drove you in here?" Your newfound companion asked after a little bit. You looked at him.

"It's not really a who, per se, as a what." The flower said nothing, urging you to continue.

"Long story short, I'm a shut in and this much social interaction makes me uncomfortable." You scoffed, "There are just so many _people_ and they all want to _talk_." You shuddered. The flower nodded understandingly.

"What about you?" You asked, and now it was his turn to scoff.

"Long story short? I don't like people."

"You certainly come across as tolerant to me." You said.

"That's because if you're in here too you can't be all that bad. Don't prove me wrong." It replied, narrowing its eyes. You wondered how a flower could come across so menacingly.

"I'll try. What's your name, anyway?" You asked, realizing you couldn't keep mentally referring to him as 'the flower'.

"Flowey. Flowey the flower. Original, I know." Flowey said scornfully. You nodded and breathed in, containing your laughter.

"I'm Katrina," You replied, miraculously keeping a straight face, "Good to meet you Flowey." Flowey opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That's probably Frisk." Flowey said as you stood up to open it. Like he said, you opened the door to find a surprised Frisk looking up at you.

"What?" Flowey asked when Frisk looked back at him.

"We were just talking." You said to the confused child.

"Flowey? Talking?" Frisk signed incredulously.

"Yeah, talking, is that so hard to believe? I can be civil you know." Flowey said, and you were pretty sure he was rolling his eyes. Frisk gave him a look that said 'yeah right' and stepped into the bathroom. You moved out of their way, but kept holding the door open. Frisk signed something you couldn't understand, and looked between you and Flowey hopefully. You looked to the flower, lost.

"Birthday kid over here wants us to play tag." Flowey translated, a bitter edge to his voice. You raised an eyebrow at the two of them, but with the way Frisk was looking at you you couldn't bring yourself to say no. It was the kid's birthday, after all.

"Uh, yeah, sure, okay." You said, making them smile hugely and hug you. You stepped back an inch and huffed, Frisk's unexpected hug knocking some of the air out of you. Awkwardly, you hugged Frisk back, looking over to Flowey and shrugging.

"Alright, let's go." Flowey said, making Frisk release you and pick him up. The three of you walked over to where Frisk had gathered some other players, two of which were Undyne and Papyrus.

"HUMAN! ARE YOU PLAYING 'TAG' TOO?" Papyrus asked, his loud voice making you wince. Undyne appeared behind him and slung an arm around his shoulder, a toothy grin on her face.

"I guess?" You shrugged.

"You ready to get DESTROYED, punk?!" Undyne challenged you excitedly. You laughed, but before you could respond Flowey started begrudgingly laying out the ground rules. People (or monsters) couldn't go into certain rooms of the house, but most of the place and the yard was accessible, and you couldn't tag the person who just tagged you. Basic rules, but you had the feeling someone was going to end up breaking something by going somewhere they weren't supposed to. Suddenly, Frisk touched someone, and all hell broke loose.

Some of the group ran inside, while some others and yourself went to the front yard. You came to a stop, and looked at the people around you.

"I don't know how I get dragged into these things." Flowey muttered, and you looked down to see Frisk standing beside you. The front door burst open and sent everyone running, with a few screaming, making you laugh.

"It could be worse!" You called back to him, as you were faster than Frisk since your legs were longer.

"I don't understand how it _could_ be any worse!" Flowey yelled back, making you laugh. You ran inside and split up from Frisk and Flowey, then spotted Mettaton talking to Napstablook and Alphys in the corner of a room.

"Hi there." You greeted the three as you swung around Mettaton, using him as a support.

"W-what's got you so out of breath?" Alphys asked as Mettaton and Napstablook returned your greeting.

"Someone," You pointed to yourself, "got pulled into playing tag with Frisk."

"But darling, don't you have asthma?" Mettaton asked as you put your hands behind your head.

You nodded and gave a halfhearted laugh, "Yeah."

"Then why didn't you-" Mettaton started to speak, but you interrupted him, internally kicking yourself once you did so.

"Because it's their birthday and they looked so hopeful and I couldn't bring myself to say no." You said in one breath.

"I'm sure Frisk would understand...." Napstablook spoke up for the first time.

"Y-yeah, Frisk w-wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger or anything." Alphys added.

"I'm sure they would too, but who am I to disappoint a kid like that? I can deal with it." You responded as you began to breath normally again.

"Sweetheart..." Mettaton started, unsure of what to say. You looked at him.

"Maybe I just want to do for them what no one did for me as a child." You said quietly. They all stared at you, and you cursed yourself for having the talent for saying stupid things at the wrong times and making situations awkward.

"Anyway, I'll get out of your way." You grinned like nothing happened and jogged off, returning to the backyard.

"Alright, what'd I miss?" You asked upon seeing Flowey and Frisk again.

"Undyne got tagged." Flowey said simply, and as if on cue Papyrus screeched unmistakably from somewhere at the front of the house. The three of you shared the same look, and you turned your head.

"They're coming from that way. Go!" You said, pointing to where you could hear Papyrus coming from. Frisk ran off to the other side of the house, as did some others, and other people went inside. You stayed in your spot and braced yourself, planning your course of action as Papyrus neared you.

You stood in such a spot in the yard so that as Papyrus came towards you you took off, going to the left and around both him and Undyne.

"Hey!" Undyne yelled as you passed her, and you grinned to yourself. You could tell that she was after you now, but you had another plan. As you came around the house you stuck close to the front side of it, leading Undyne into the crowd that had gathered there. Once they set off, you took a left and went through them, then taking another left to go back the way you had come. Undyne chased after the crowd, and you were left standing in the front yard, untouched.

"Brains over brawn." You whispered to yourself, laughing silently and relishing in your success. You dropped to the ground, sitting down with your hands above your head.

"I, am a genius!" You cheered a little louder, putting your fist into the air.

"nice juke, kiddo." Sans's voice came from your right, and you turned your head to look at him.

"Where'd you come from?" You asked him, positive that he wasn't there earlier. Sans just shrugged, so you lay down on your back.

"You're welcome to join me if you want." You offered to the skeleton. He thought about it for half a second before lying down beside you.

"sure. i wouldn't wanna leave ya all a- _lawn_." He said as he got comfortable in the grass, making you snort.

"Ah, yes, I sure would be quite _bonely_ without you." You replied, nudging him with your foot. Before he could reply with another pun, a stampede of people rushed into the yard.

"you gonna worry about that?" Sans asked when you didn't move.

"Nah. They won't think about it." You said, shrugging. "Besides, not many things make me happy like puns do."

"like what?" Sans propped himself up on his elbow to look at you.

"Hearing puns, making puns, hearing people don't like me or hearing them insult me, singing, reading good fanfiction..." You trailed off.

"Mettaton?" Sans guessed. You looked at him, stunned.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious. I just don't know if he has you wrapped around his finger or if you have him around yours. Maybe it's both." Sans said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." You responded with the worst possible thing to say.

Sans scoffed, "Please. With the way he looks at you when you're not looking, or how you're totally content to just be around him, or all the touching? You guys are infatuated with each other."

"Dude, no way. We're just friends, and neither of us feel any way but platonic towards the other." You said, frowning at the sky.

"How can you be sure?" Sans asked, then vanished into thin air leaving you confused.

Mettaton eventually found you in your spot in the grass, and got you to come inside to watch Frisk open presents and eat cake. Frisk sat on the floor surrounded by a ring of gifts, with a circle of people around that. Flowey, or Flowey's pot, rather, sat in Frisk's lap. They had already started opening their gifts, and there was tissue paper and wrapping paper scattered around. Mettaton had gotten them a scarf (that was MTT brand, of course), Sans got them a sweater that said "I love Sans" on it, Undyne had gotten them a child-size spear (which was very real and left Toriel very worried), Alphys gave them an upgraded cell phone, Napstablook gave them a pair of headphones, and Papyrus made them a plate of "birthday spaghetti." You couldn't help but laugh at the oddity of some of the gifts, specifically Sans's, which you thought was fantastic.

After gifts it was time for cake, which you wouldn't admit you were excited for. The cake was huge, but simple, as it just said "Happy Birthday Frisk" on it in icing.

"What do you think, darling?" Mettaton asked you. You made a noise of approval since your mouth was full, and gave a thumbs up, making him laugh. You gave a mock glare at his laughter, and stole a bit of his cake with your fork.

"Oh, you wanna go there?" Mettaton asked with his signature evil plotting grin.

"I think I already did." You responded smoothly. Mettaton dragged his finger across the frosting on your cake, and then wiped it on your nose. You both stood there for a second, struggling to contain your laughter, before breaking into hysterics.

"Man, that was perfectly good frosting!" You laughed, shamelessly using your finger to get the frosting off your nose and into your mouth. Mettaton just shrugged, laughing with a mouthful of cake. After you finished eating, you went to the bathroom to clean up.

"I should've gotten some in your hair." You told Mettaton, who was standing beside you and watching you through the mirror.

"No, I glad you didn't," Mettaton chuckled nervously, putting a hand up to his beloved hair.

"I'm gonna be on my deathbed and in my dying breaths I'll be like 'I should've...put frosting...in Mettaton's hair...'" You did your best 'old person' voice, making him laugh, and you smiled. Sans's voice popped into your head. _"I just don't know if he has you wrapped around his finger or if you have him around yours."_ You shook away the thought, mentally telling Sans to fuck off, and went back out with Mettaton.

As evening rolled around all of Frisk's younger friends left, leaving just the main monsters Frisk had befriended in the underground, and yourself. The group of eleven sat in the living room, watching a movie that you weren't paying attention to. Instead, you sat with Mettaton's arm around you, unable to stop thinking about the points Sans had brought up. You hated to think that he was right, but in a way, he was. You and Mettaton were nearly inseparable, and the more you thought about it the more you could think of examples proving that you really were "wrapped around his finger." While you were certain you didn't feel any romantic attraction towards him, there was no promising that he didn't feel that way toward you, and the bond you already had was incredibly strong.

Quietly, you excused yourself from Mettaton, and left the room to go to the front porch. Now outside, you breathed in the fresh night air greedily, looking up at the stars and returning to your thoughts. You and Mettaton acted like a couple. From holding hands and putting his arm around you, to him being over at your place constantly, to giving him a spare key, to his driving you to work and staying there throughout your shift sometimes, to everything you did together. _"So what?"_ You thought, _"We act like we're dating, but so do a lot of friends. We're just that close. Besides, I don't have any feelings towards him. Why am I worrying about this?"_

"Hey, darling. Are you okay?" Mettaton's voice pulled you back to reality, and you turned around to face him.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" You asked him as he closed the door.

"You've seemed a little off all day today. You'd zone out, or randomly disappear, and you haven't said much at all. Are you sure you're alright?" Mettaton came up to you and put his arm around your waist, pulling you close to him as the two of you looked out at the front yard.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I guess I'm just a little tired or something." You replied, shrugging and resting your head against his shoulder. Mettaton moved his thumb back and forth.

"Do you want to get going then?" He asked.

"No, I mean, if you want to, but it's whatever."

"I'll go say that we're leaving, and you can wait in the car. Okay darling?" Mettaton looked at you and held up his car keys. You hoped that the others wouldn't think it rude of you to leave without a goodbye, but you were also too tired to care very much. You nodded and took his keys, then made the walk down the driveway and to the car. Once you got in you buckled and leaned the seat back, and fell asleep.

You woke up to the sound of a door closing, making you jump.

"Sorry." Mettaton grinned at you sheepishly as he started the car.

"It's fine, I was only half asleep." You replied, stifling a yawn and putting the seat back up. The two of you sat in silence for a few moments. Looking over at Mettaton, he looked like he wanted to say something.

"Penny for your thoughts?" You asked, looking back ahead.

"Earlier, when you said you wanted to do for Frisk what no one did for you as a child, what did you mean?" He blurted almost immediately. You sighed, biting your lip, and thought about what to say.

"When I was younger... My father wasn't around. My mother worked 80 hours a week but we barely made enough money to scrape by. Our relatives considered us the disappointments of the family and pretty much shunned us, except for her parents and sister; but even then, they didn't help us much, if at all." You took a breath.

"Basically, we were poor. I got my first job when I was 10. Anything remotely expensive was free or I bought it myself. Now, Frisk is obviously fairing pretty well, but this doesn't just link back to money. Since my mother was always working and my father wasn't around, I lost that 'childhood innocence' pretty fast. I can see that despite being the monster ambassador and their experiences in the underground, Frisk has not lost theirs." You shook your head, realizing you weren't making any sense.

"What I'm trying to say, is that constantly being let down as a kid didn't allow me to _be_ a kid. I don't want that for them." Mettaton sat quietly, thinking about what you had just said.

"When was the last time I ate?" You asked, breaking the silence with the first random thought you had, and making it so that he didn't have to say anything in response to your story.

"I don't know, darling. Maybe lunch?" Mettaton responded, still looking thoughtful.

"Yeah, excluding the cake. I should probably eat again then, huh." After that, the two of you fell into a more comfortable silence, with Mettaton thinking about whatever and you watching him out of the corner of your eye.

When you got back to your apartment building, Mettaton insisted on walking you up to the building's doors. Upon getting there you turned around to face him, and he pulled you into a hug. When you let go, you kept a hold of his hand, and, on a split second decision, stood on the tips of your toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." You said softly, squeezing his hand. Mettaton's blush was obvious, and you smiled.

"O-of course, darling," He stuttered, his internal fans kicking up.

"Drive safe, okay?" You opened the door and stepped in, letting go of his hand. Mettaton simply nodded, and you waved at him as the door closed. Turning around, you walked to your apartment, leaving Mettaton staring after you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all of you who have given kudos so far: thank you so much, I love your face.


	6. Day 118 // Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 2,530

Around noon, Mettaton showed up at your apartment unexpected. You crossed your arms as he grinned at you innocently while standing in the doorway.

"Hello, darling." Mettaton said, reaching up and grabbing the frame of the door while leaning against it. You raised an eyebrow.

"Hello, Mettaton." You replied, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Are you doing anything right now?" He asked, blinking a few times.

"It's 12 pm on my day off, Mett. What do you think?" You answered his question with a question. Mettaton squirmed - this wasn't going the way he wanted it to. Giving up on talking, he swiftly picked you up and put you over his shoulder. You let out some noise that was best described as a mix of a yelp and a squeak.

"Oh, come on!" You complained, not bothering to try and get out of his grip. Previous experiences had taught you that any such effort was useless.

"You at least locked my door, right?" You asked him, trying to pull yourself so you could look at his face.

"Of course I did, sweetheart." Mettaton replied like he wasn't carrying you over his shoulder down the hallway of your apartment building.

"You can put me down, you know." You said as he stepped into the elevator. Thankfully, he was being careful not to hit you on anything.

Mettaton hummed as if he was thinking about it.

"It'll be really weird if we step out into the lobby and you're still carrying me. Even more so when we go outside." You reasoned with him. Mettaton thought about the concept of a picture of him carrying you like this getting out to the media. He set you down on the floor.

"Thanks," You said distractedly as you rubbed your rib cage, your body glad to no longer have all its weight supported on your ribs. Mettaton was unusually quiet as he led you to his car, and the two of you drove off.

"So, are you going to tell me what's happening?" You prompted after a few moments of silence in the car.

"Well, darling, the point of a surprise is that the person doesn't know." Mettaton answered, glancing at you briefly. You sighed heavily and put your head back, but smiled.

You ended up dozing off in the car (you had been getting good at that), and were woken up by Mettaton shaking you gently.

"Hey, darling, wake up. We're here." He said gently. You hummed and opened your eyes, blinking a few times.

"Have a nice nap?" Mettaton asked you as he took your hand and helped you out of the car. You didn't get a chance to respond because once your left foot hit the ground your leg gave out. Since Mettaton was holding your hand, he was able to catch you.

You giggled, "Guess my leg fell asleep."

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at you worriedly. He held you upright still, afraid of what might happen if he let go.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I'll walk it off." You replied, pulling out of his grasp and taking a few steps on your own. You turned back to him and held your arms out.

"See? Good to go."

Mettaton didn't seem fully convinced but closed the car door and locked it nonetheless.

"Why are we at the lab?" You asked, finally noticing where he had taken you.

"Surprise: an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing." Mettaton said the dictionary definition of the word. You glowered at him.

"Eat me."

"I don't think that would be a very pleasurable experience for either of us, darling." Mettaton chuckled.

"Not if you're doing it right." You nudged his arm with your elbow and smirked, seeing him blush and put his hand over his face as his internal fans kicked up.

"You're impossible." He said from behind his hand. You snickered.

"I wouldn't call it _that_..."

The two of you reached the lab doors and he rung the buzzer, the doors opening not even a second later. When you got a couple of steps in, Mettaton stopped you.

"Close your eyes, darling."

You looked at him suggestively, "Ooh, kinky." Mettaton looked like he was screaming inside, and you heard Undyne burst out laughing from another room.

"Okay, okay, my eyes are shut. Where are we going." You said to appease your flustered companion.

"No looking!" He warned as he took your hand and started walking.

"Jeez, Mett, who do you take me for?" You asked him teasingly.

"Someone who would look," Mettaton replied honestly and you laughed.

"Wow, thanks." After turning two corners, Mettaton stopped you and let go of your hand. You heard a chair being pulled out.

"Why do I get the feeling we're in the kitchen?" You asked, resisting the urge to crack your eyes open.

"P-probably bec-cause you are." Alphys' voice came from a little ways away.

"Oh, hi doctor Alphys." You waved to the direction her voice had come from, suddenly becoming self-conscious of the fact that your eyes were closed. Mettaton picked you up and put you down on a chair.

"I can sit down by myself, you know." You said to him, your arms finding their way to the tabletop. You felt papers on the table.

"Okay, you can look." Mettaton said, a hint of excitement in his voice. You opened your eyes and looked down at the papers in front of you. As you read them, your jaw dropped and you covered your mouth with one hand.

"...what? Is... is this for real?" You let out an unbelieving laugh as you kept reading.

"When we were at Frisk's birthday part last week I asked Alphys to consider taking you on as an intern. A few days ago she got back to me and said she would like to." Mettaton explained how the situation came to be. You looked up from the contractual papers and looked between Alphys and Mettaton. Mettaton stood to your side and behind you a little bit, and Alphys stood across the table, nervously bouncing on her toes.

You looked back at the papers and stared, switching to loosely covering your mouth with your right hand. It had taken years, hundreds of hours of work, and plunging yourself into thousands of dollars in student debt to get your master's degree. After all that, your efforts had hardly seemed to pay off - you had been working as a waitress for months, barely scraping by, with a master's just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. It took a harsher toll on you than you would like to admit.

But now, now Mettaton - of all people - just placed the opportunity of a lifetime in front of you. He gave you a chance to finally prove yourself, for the thing you had devoted your life to to finally be useful.

"Darling?" Mettaton took a cautious step towards you upon noticing the tears pricking the corners of your eyes. Without any warning you flung yourself off the chair and at him full force, hugging him. He had to swing you to one side a little bit to prevent you from slamming into him like a brick wall due to your momentum.

"Are you okay?" He asked anxiously, looking down at you.

"Yes!" You shouted into his chest, then pulled back to look up at him, "What kind of question is that?!" In the blink of an eye you hurtled over the table, surprising even yourself, and literally fell to your knees in front of Alphys.

"Thank you so, so much, I won't let you down," You promised her, hands clasped together. A bewildered Alphys and Mettaton watched as you got up again and threw yourself back into the chair, picking up a pen on the table and signing your name where needed. After that, you picked up the contract and pressed it to your forehead, squeezing your eyes shut.

"I hope you're proud of me." You choked out in a whisper. Despite your best efforts, tears rolled down your cheeks.

Mettaton put a hand on your shoulder so you put the contract down and buried your face in his chest again, not wanting anyone to see you cry. Mettaton rubbed your back reassuringly.

"Thank you so much, Mett," You said quietly, looking up at him, then looking away again. "Thank you so much." Your voice broke this time, and another wave of tears hit you.

"I can't even..." You started, stepping away from him and wiping your tears, "I can't even begin to say how much this means to me." You looked at both Alphys and Mettaton as you spoke.

"I..." You choked back more tears, shaking your head and running your hands down your face.

"I think we can understand a little, sweetheart." Mettaton said, stepping towards you with an arm outstretched some.

"No, no, I'm okay," You shook your head again, "I'm okay."

You stepped over to the table and picked up the contract, looking at Alphys.

"Can I get a copy of this? I... I have someone I want to show it to." Alphys nodded and took the contract out of your hand, leaving the room with it. You turned back to Mettaton.

"Oh my god." You laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm a wreck right now."

Mettaton shook his head, "No, I'm sorry darling, I didn't know this would evoke such an emotional response."

"Neither did I!" You laughed again, rubbing the back of your neck with a bashful smile. Before he could respond, Alphys walked back in the room.

"I made two." She said, handing you two copies of the contract instead of just one. They had each been put into separate envelopes. You thanked her yet again, and sprinted out of the room to the building's front doors.

Alphys and Mettaton looked at each other.

"Sh-she was supposed to start today, y'know." Alphys said to him. He nodded, and looked to the doorway.

"I'll bring her back soon." Mettaton sighed and followed the path you had taken.

"Oh, good, you're here. Let's go." You said to him once he stepped outside. You were halfway to his car but had been walking back to the building to get him.

"Okay, but where are we going?" Mettaton asked. You stopped dead in your tracks.

"Uh..." A small nervous laugh left you, and Mettaton could sense your hesitation in telling him. Shaking yourself out of it you continued walking, picking up your pace.

"I'll give you the address." You got into his car, disappearing from his sight. He followed. You told him the address as he pulled out of the parking lot.

There was a somewhat awkward silence between the two of you as he drove, and you bounced your leg nervously. The buildings thinned out some, and Mettaton pulled into a church parking lot.

"This is it?" He asked, looking at you in shock, "I thought you weren't the religious type." You stayed quiet for a moment, not looking at him.

"I'm not. Stay here." Without giving him a chance to refuse you got out and closed the car door, walking away. Mettaton's breath hitched when he realized that you weren't headed toward the church - you were headed for the cemetery next to it.

You clutched an envelope in your hand, keeping your head down as you passed by tombstones. You immediately choked up again once you found the one you were looking for, and a quiet sob escaped your throat.

You knelt down in front of the headstone, brushing over the engraved name with your thumb. The thing itself was small and undecorated but it had been the most you and your brother could afford at the time. Looking down at the envelope in your hand that contained a trifolded copy of your newfound business agreement with Alphys, you let a tear hit the ground.

"Hi, Mom." Your voice broke.

"I miss you." It came out in a hoarse whisper. You didn't bother to wipe the tears off your cheeks.

"I... You know I put a lot into getting my degree, right? But then I felt like it never paid off. I didn't come visit you much because I had felt like I let you down, even though I know that if you were here you would still be proud of me either way." You took a shaky breath and continued.

"Recently, I met a guy. Um... It's not like that, we aren't dating or anything, just good friends. But, he's kind of special. And he's got some connections. And he happens to be friends with the most brilliant scientist alive today. And today he took me to her workplace and had me sit down, and there was a business contract there on the table.

I finally did it, mom. Everything I've worked for for so long... It finally came to fruition. I hope I've made you proud." You looked down and closed your eyes, shaking.

"That's all I ever wanted to do, you know?" Your voice was at a higher pitch than normal as you cried.

"God, I feel like you right now." A bitter laugh followed your comment.

"I just... I just wish I could see you again. I miss you so damn much..."

During this, Mettaton sadly watched your hunched form in the distance. When he could see your body shaking because of the sobs, he had finally had enough. He got out of the car and began to walk over to you.

"...It's not like it even matters, you know? You're not here, you can't hear me. There is no damn afterlife. There's no stupid heaven that you're watching me from. You're just gone. And I sit here and desperately cling to the last part of you I have because I don't know what else to do." As you spoke, Mettaton watched from a few feet away. You were too caught up in your rant to notice his presence until he knelt down next to you.

He wrapped an arm around your waist and you leaned into him, crying silently. He didn't say anything, which you were grateful for. You didn't feel like you could handle anything else right now.

Eventually, your crying calmed some, and you sat up on your own again. You stared at the headstone and felt lost. So, you went to what you always had retreated to when there was nothing else: music. Your eyes closed.

" _If you could see me now,_  
_Would you be pleased and proud?_  
_I'm doing fine,_  
_But sometimes I cry_  
_When I see your face_  
_Are there windows in heaven?_  
_To see me now,_  
_Through all the sky and clouds_  
_Living my life_  
_With a heart full of pride_  
_When I see your face_  
_Are there windows in heaven?_ "

Your voice shook as you sang so softly it was almost silent. After saying that you took the envelope still in hand and propped it against the tombstone. Promptly, you got up, walking away. Mettaton got up and followed you, but you didn't hear him look back at the headstone.

"I'll take care of her. I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's kind of short, it just felt right to end it there.
> 
> The song I quoted is called Windows In Heaven by We Are The In Crowd, it's super fucking great so check it out!


	7. Day 119 // Grillby's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 3,526

Mettaton had taken you home after the whole ordeal at the lab and the cemetery, saying that he would deal with Alphys. You had told him to take you back to the lab once you learned you were supposed to start working that day, but he had refused, insisting that you should go home and recuperate.

Now it was the next day and you stood at the lab doors, patiently waiting to be let in after pressing the buzzer. Once inside, Alphys quickly picked up on the fact that you were acting like yesterday never happened, so she played along with it. She gave you a quick tour of the lab, and since you already knew your way around some of it it wasn't too hard to get used to.

The contract that you had signed had detailed the kinds of things you would be doing, but Alphys talked about them again anyway.

"S-so, basically, y-you'll kind of just h-help me out with things, a-and, um... h-how did I word that again..." Alphys trailed off as she walked around one of the rooms filled with all kinds of scientific instruments. This room in particular looked more like a legitimate science lab, or a high-school chemistry room.

"I'll do some paperwork and help you with whatever it is you're working on at the time." You spoke up from behind her.

"Yes! T-that's it..." Alphys trailed off again, seemingly deep in thought, and you wondered if she was replying to you or thinking out loud about whatever else was on her mind. She led you into another room.

"O-oh, this will be where you'll be working for the most part." She said, turning around to face you once she was a couple of steps into the room. You looked around. It was fairly small, with a desk and a chair, of course. On two of the walls were shelves full of boxes, and on the third wall was an empty cork board. There was a single light in the center of the ceiling, and on the desk were some scattered papers and basic utensils for a desk job.

"I-I know it isn't much, um... The-the whole thing was kind of last minute..." Alphys said as you walked around and sat in the chair. You spun in it to face her, seeing that she was looking away from you and wringing her hands nervously.

"Are you kidding? This is great!" You grinned and spun around in the chair, "It's like the perfect size, this is super cool."

"W-wait, really?" Alphys looked at you now, and you nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! I like small spaces like this. Big rooms are distracting and overwhelming." Your reassurance seemed to calm her nerves a bit, and she gave a small smile.

"O-oh. W-well, that's good then."

Alphys showed you a few more rooms that the both of you would be working in, giving brief descriptions of each. The 'tour' ended with her own office.

You whistled as you walked in. It was really, really big.

"Y-yeah, it's k-kind of something..." Alphys said, standing by the door. You had taken a few steps into the room and turned to face her now.

"Alright," You clapped your hands together excitedly, "What am I doing?" Alphys let out a short, nervous laugh.

"Paperwork." She said, pointing to her desk. You followed her gaze to a huge stack of papers.

"Wow." You walked over to it, picking up the stack with one arm and looking through the first couple of pages with your free hand.

"S-sorry, I know it's not the m-most fun thing..." Alphys started. You looked up at her incredulously.

"Why are you apologizing? It's my job!" You giggled, "Besides, part of what makes me a great employee is the fact that I actually don't mind doing stuff like this."

"Huh?" You glanced down to the papers and back up at her, sporting a stupid half-grin.

"Yeah! I don't know, I don't hate it like most people. Really, I don't see what's so bad about stuff like this at all." You tilted your head thoughtfully, "Then again, I've always been weird when it comes to these things. I absolutely adored school when I was younger."

Before Alphys could respond, you walked to the door.

"Anyway, I'll get working on this, and let you know when I'm done."  You practically skipped out of her office, and she watched after you with an eyebrow raised.

"And I thought you were a nerd." Undyne walked into the room, going over to her girlfriend and putting an arm around her.

Once in your own office, you flicked on the lights, closed the door behind you, and set the paperwork down on your desk with a thunk. You partially jumped into your chair, sending it rolling a few inches, and took a moment to internally squeal at everything. You, a lowly college graduate, had an internship for the most brilliant doctor in the world. And you were the only one. It brought a huge embarrassing smile to your face and you were glad no one else could see it.

You took your phone out of your pocket and set it face down on your desk at a far corner, and rearranged a few things so they were organized to your liking. Plucking a pen out of the little cup-like holder you had, you set to work.

You didn't know how long it had been but you were making decent progress when there was a sharp knock on the door, and it opened.

"Hola." You greeted, looking up to see Undyne coming in the room.

"What?" She looked at you in confusion as she shut the door behind her.

You smiled, "It's Spanish for hello. What's up?"

"Alphy asked me to check in on you. It's been a few hours." Undyne leaned against the wall behind her. She seemed to act calmer whenever she was at the lab, you noticed.

"Oh, I'm good. I'm making some decent progress, I think." You sat back and twirled your pen between your fingers absentmindedly. Undyne glanced at the now split stacks of papers on your desk.

"I wouldn't know. I don't know how you and Alphy do this kind of work." She said with a shrug.

"It just depends on the kind of person you are. Everyone's different and has different interests and strengths and weaknesses." You replied.

"So what do you think so far?" Undyne's question prompted another giddy smile.

"What do I think? This is the coolest!" Your voice raised a little in your excitement and you spun around in your chair. You felt you could be a bit more unprofessional around Undyne.

"It's so much more than I ever thought I could get, like, I don't even care that I'm not getting paid. This is the greatest opportunity of my life." You gushed, speaking with your hands.

"But you are getting paid." Undyne said, raising an eyebrow. You froze.

"Wait, what?"

"You are getting paid. Why would you think you wouldn't be?" Undyne looked at you with a mix of confusion and what you guessed to be a hint of amusement.

"Well, I mean, interns don't get paid. They work for free. That's how things work." You waved a hand around to emphasize the 'things' part, "I just kind of assumed it would be the same here. I've never heard of an intern getting paid."

"Interns don't get paid?" Undyne asked in shock.

"Well... Yeah. Usually most internships are just teenagers running around an office getting the actual employees coffee or whatever. Internships serve the purpose of the intern being able to see what the actual employees do. Since they're not actually doing work, they don't get paid. Granted, this is a different situation and I'm more of an assistant, but I still figured since it's an internship I wouldn't be getting paid anything." You ran a hand through your hair as you spoke.

"That's really stupid." Undyne said, her eye narrowed. You shrugged.

"I guess, but what can you do about it? The other good thing about internships is that you can put them on your resume, and if you were an intern for a certain company that can look good." You took to rolling the sleeves of your flannel up.

"How do you even know all this?" Undyne's question made you look up at her in shock.

"How do you not?" You responded in disbelief.

"I don't exactly have a job right now." She chuckled, "Alphy makes enough money for the both of us, and the surface is weird."

You blinked. "Fair enough."

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to..." Undyne halfheartedly pointed to your desk, "That." She turned to leave, but stopped when she grabbed the doorknob.

"By the way, answer your boyfriend's texts. He's freaking out." You nearly choked on air at her words.

"He's not my boyfriend!" You squeaked, knowing that she was talking about Mettaton. Undyne just shook her head and laughed, calling a "Whatever" over her shoulder as the door shut behind her. You pouted at the door for a second before grabbing your phone. Sure enough, there were a number of texts from Mettaton, and one from your brother. In everything that had happened yesterday you didn't bother directly telling him about it and instead settled on sticking the other copy of your contract under his door.

You answered Mettaton first, assuring him that you were fine and things were going well, then responded to your brother. Just after you sent the text to your brother and were about to put your phone back down, Mettaton texted you again.

_**MTT Brand Booty- Alphys, Undyne and I all thought it would be nice to get together and celebrate your new position. What do you think, darling?** _

You thought about it for a second before saying that you thought that would be fun, though unnecessary. Mettaton replied excitedly, saying that he would pick you up after work. You shot a quick text to your brother, telling him what you would be doing so that he didn't freak out when you weren't home that evening. Now finally able to set your phone down, you went back to work.

A loud noise from your office led Alphys to pop her head in in concern. Upon hearing the door open you turned around in your chair to face it, and grinned sheepishly after seeing your boss.

"Sorry. I just finished this." You pointed to the stack of papers on your desk, and lined them up a little bit. Alphys stared at it, then at you.

"Is something wrong?" You asked, biting your lip.

"N-no, not at all! I didn't expect you to get that all done today." Alphys said and you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding.

"Oh, yeah." You rubbed the back of your neck.

"Normally, e-even I can't get that much done in a span of 8 hours." She added. You stood up, taking the papers into your arms and flashed a small smile.

"Where do you want me to put these?" You asked her, taking a step forward.

"O-oh, come with me." Alphys waved for you to follow her, so you did. You ended up back in her office.

"Y-you can just put them down there. I'll sort them out." She said, pointing to a small table against a wall. You obliged.

"Are you sure? I can do it if you want." You offered while putting them down. Alphys shook her head.

"N-no, tha-that's okay. I-I'll do it. Besides, your shift is up." You pulled your phone out of your pocket and checked the time.

"Oh. I guess so." You put it back and looked to Alphys, "I guess I'll get out of your way then." You took a couple of strides over to the door, opening it, and then looking back at her as if to say she should go first. Alphys went through and you followed, taking a step back from her.

"I guess I'll see you later." You tilted your head down with both hands behind your back respectfully, and took two backwards steps before turning around and walking down the hallway.

When you stepped outside, Mettaton's car was pulled up close to the front doors, and he was leaning against it. His head snapped up to look at you, and he quickly sped over and pulled you in a hug.

"Darling! How was your first day?" He asked excitedly, picking you up and spinning you around 180 degrees. You giggled, looking up at him.

"It was good! I got a lot done apparently. Oh and my office is super cool." You said with a grin. Mettaton released you from the hug but held onto both of your arms and kissed the top of your head.

"I'm so proud of you, love." He said, making you blush and look down. He either didn't notice or didn't do anything about it, and you were pretty sure it was the latter as you weren't exactly discreet.

"Come on, we have a restaurant to get to!" Mettaton pulled you to his car, opening the passenger door for you. You thanked him whist stifling a small laugh and he closed the door, wasting no time getting in the driver's side.

Mettaton had you tell him more details about your day while he drove, listening intently the entire time. The fact that he really cared gave you an unfamiliar warmth in your chest. Not too long after leaving the lab he pulled into the parking lot of a small diner with a sign that said 'Grillby's' in orange neon lights.

"I've never been here before." You said to Mettaton as the two of you walked to the front doors.

"Grillby's was a popular establishment back in the Underground. Once the barrier broke, the owner - Grillby - made another place up here. It's still predominantly monsters that come, but some humans come as well." Mettaton explained. He held the door open for you, and you thanked him while walking in.

Thought small, it was a nice place. There were tables to the sides, and at the back was a bar. The decor was mainly a polished wood, and combined with the low lighting it was very pretty. You took a few steps in before being jumped by Papyrus.

"HUMAN! IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! YOU TOO METTATON!" The tall skeleton said - or shouted, rather - while squeezing you in a tight hug.

"Hi, Papyrus," You managed to choke out. He let you go and you place a hand to your chest, breathing in gratefully.

"I didn't know you guys would be here." You said right after Sans appeared next to his brother. Mettaton put a hand on your shoulder and looked down at you.

"Blooky should be here too." He said, his eyes scanning the room. You spotted Alphys and Undyne at the bar at the same time Papyrus began to drag you and Mettaton over to them. You wondered how they had gotten there before you but the thought was quickly pushed away as you became caught up in greetings and being sat down on one of the bar stools. The bartender, a monster made completely of fire, waved to you as he was introduced as Grillby. Napstablook appeared out of nowhere, and then the gathering was complete.

"sorry, i know paps can give some pretty  _bone-crushing_ hugs." Sans's voice said, and you turned to find him seated next to you. You chuckled at the pun and shook your head.

"Nah, it's good. Don't worry your pretty little skull about it." You couldn't think of a pun to make in return, so just settled on that. Your little group moved from the bar to a table, where it was easier to talk. Because of the odd number you ended up sitting on Mettaton's lap, solely volunteering to do so because you had a feeling he would become flustered. You were right.

"SO, HUMAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR NEW JOB? THAT IS WHAT HE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE, OF COURSE." Papyrus asked you.

"Well first of all thanks, you guys didn't have to come out and all. But it's awesome, and I'm super excited to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this." You answered, looking at Alphys as you did so to let her know how appreciative you were. While you spoke you played with Mettaton's fingers under the table. With the most recent upgrades he no longer needed to wear gloves, so he didn't - his hands were soft and felt very similar to a human's. You knew he could now feel everything you were doing like you would be able to if the situation were reversed.

"Of course we did, punk!" Undyne said. You were pretty sure that if you had been in her reach she would have hit you in her enthusiasm.

"We're all very happy for you, darling." Mettaton added, moving his hand behind yours and squeezing it. He was close enough to you that his voice made you shiver. Considering that you only got the job yesterday, you wondered how fast word traveled between this group. What you didn't know was that the whole thing had been arranged by Mettaton that day because he wanted to treat you out - and due to his flair for the dramatic, he wanted to make it big.

The conversation took a turn to different subjects, the other six breaking off to talk in pairs. Undyne and Papyrus were talking about some kind of training regiment, Alphys and Sans about some scientific things, and Mettaton was asking Napstablook about the music they were currently working on. You didn't talk unless directly spoken to, which you were fine with - you preferred just listening.

While Mettaton chatted, you ended up sliding down a little and leaning your head back into the crook of his neck. He still held your right hand in his own, albeit loosely, and you took to rubbing your thumb on his. You became somewhat transfixed on watching his jaw move as he spoke. Upon seeing the look Sans gave you out of the corner of your eye you flicked him off with your left hand, and he snorted. Mettaton stayed completely oblivious to the entire thing, thankfully.

After some time you didn't even realize that your eyes were starting to close. When he felt the movement of your thumb cease Mettaton looked down at you.

"Darling?" He asked softly. You opened your eyes and blinked a few times.

"Hm? Yeah, sorry. Listening to people talk makes me tired." You gave a short, nervous chuckle while looking up at him.

"Do you want to leave? It's getting rather late." Mettaton tried to lean away from you a little so he could get a better look at you, but you kept to him without even noticing. Your eyes had closed again as well.

"It's up to you." You murmured, still having half the mind to let him decide. However, that didn't last very long, as the voices around you became a dull humming rather than actual words. Soon you felt Mettaton stand up, still holding you. Once he stepped outside the cold of the night air stung your skin and woke you up some, but you refused to open your eyes and instead groaned and nuzzled into him. He placed you in the passenger seat, and even fastened your seatbelt for you, and you subconsciously whined at the loss of him pressed up against you while curling into a ball on your side.

You fell asleep in his car yet again, and when he returned to your apartment building he ended up carrying you back to your place. The temperature changes combined with his movement woke you up some, so you were only half asleep again once the two of you got into your apartment. Mettaton carefully placed you into your bed, but when he pulled away from you your arm went out and grabbed him.

"No." You said, eyes still closed but your grip on him surprisingly strong.

"What?" Mettaton asked, his voice barely a whisper in his shock.

"Stay with me." You told him, pulling him down on top of you. Mettaton caught himself, knowing that if he actually landed on you with his full weight it would hurt you. While he held himself up, essentially on his hands and knees, you wrapped your arms around his waist and pulled him so that he was forced onto his side, and then his back. Now facing him, you wrapped one leg around both of his, and positioned yourself so that you were lying halfway on top of him.

Mettaton stared up at your ceiling, processing the situation while violently blushing. You buried your face in his neck and his internal fans kicked up, and he mentally cursed them. Figuring that he was stuck there, as you weren't going to let go of him any time soon, he put his arms around you and closed his eyes, accepting it.


	8. Day 126 // Depression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 4,210

There was a knock on the door, and the muffled sound of Mettaton calling for you. You groaned and curled up in a ball on your side, not wanting to deal with anyone at the moment. However, when you heard the front door open, you remembered that this was part of the reason you gave him a spare key.

"Darling?" Mettaton's voice floated through your apartment, louder and clearer. You could faintly hear his footsteps as he walked, and as he got closer to your bedroom door you pulled your knees closer to your chest and squeezed your eyes shut as if that would prevent the situation from progressing.

Mettaton opened your bedroom door hesitantly. His gaze fell on you, and he took a few quick strides over to your bedside before sitting on the edge of the mattress. He put a hand on your arm.

"I know you're awake, love." He said after a moment. "You couldn't be tensed up like that in your sleep." You didn't say anything, just roughly swallowed.

"Are you okay?" Mettaton asked, his voice now laced with worry. He pulled on your arm a little and leant over you to get a better look at your face. You felt the hand on your arm be removed but was quickly replaced on your forehead, as if feeling for a fever.

"You're not sick or anything, are you sweetheart?" His hand trailed down the side of your face gently. You were pretty sure you could picture his concerned expression.

You shuffled a little and finally spoke.

"I'm fine, Mett." Your voice was rough, and your breathing labored from laying down for so long. "Don't worry about me. Shouldn't you be at work?"

Mettaton, thrilled that you finally spoke, gave a silent sigh of relief.

"I'm pretty much done, darling. It has been a week after all." The back of his hand was still resting on your cheek, and his finger moving back and forth minutely.

"Oh." You said, not able to be bothered saying anything else. It was silent for a few seconds.

"Darling... How long have you been laying here?" Mettaton spoke almost hesitantly, his voice a tad quieter like he didn't want to know the answer. You said nothing for a couple of moments, debating how to respond.

"A couple of days." Your voice mimicked his in its lower volume as you told him the truth. You had had the last couple of days off from the lab, and in that time had fallen into a depression. 

Mettaton shut his eyes, tilting his head toward the ceiling in the revelation that he was right in what he thought was happening. You felt his hand trail off you as he stood up, and listened as he walked around. After a minute he returned to your side and his arms slid underneath you, lifting you up. Your eyes finally opened and you found yourself pressed against his chest, looking up at him.

"What...?" You trailed off, eyebrows knitted together as you blinked in your confusion. Mettaton had one of his arms under your knees and the other supporting your upper back, and you kept your arms tucked into your chest like they had been when you were laying down. You pressed yourself closer to him, not pleased at the temperature change due to the new lack of being covered by blankets.

"You are going to take a shower." Mettaton said, seemingly understanding your question. You gave a small groan in your malcontent, even though you knew you needed to.

Mettaton set you down so you sat on the part of the counter closer to the shower. On the other part of it, he had gotten you a new change of clothes. Before he could object you slid off the counter, and the second you were standing your legs gave out.

"Careful, sweetheart." Mettaton said, swiftly catching you and placing you back up on the counter. You sat and watched him turn on the shower and close both doors. He turned back to you.

"Okay, love. Arms up." He said, taking two steps over to you. You did as you were told, and he took your shirt off you. You immediately became very aware of the fact that you were only in a bra and jeans. Mettaton noticed you tense and sit up a little straighter.

"You have nothing to be self-conscious about, darling." Mettaton looked you in the eyes while he said this, his hands on your sides to balance you. You wanted to look away, but didn't. The two of you stared at each other for a moment before he shook his head and stepped back an inch.

"I can do it, I think." You said, referring to your jeans. Mettaton looked at you skeptically and bit his lip.

"Let's just see if you can stand up first, hm?" He replied. You nodded and looked down at the floor, easing off the counter. Your balance was somewhat wobbly but you stayed standing this time.

"Close your eyes and keep your hands on my shoulders." You said. Your voice was so quiet you could barely hear it, but somehow Mettaton had and did what you asked. You hurriedly undressed the rest of the way, with Mettaton's hold on you helping to keep your balance.

"You can let go." You said while taking Mettaton's wrists and pushing them upwards. Mettaton was reluctant to do so, unable to keep track of you in any way, but trusted your judgement. Once he heard your okay he opened his eyes.

Even though standing under warm water chills went down your spine as you thought about the fact that you were just naked in front of your best friend a few seconds ago. And that he was still in the bathroom with you while you showered. The anxiety in the back of your mind started coming up with a number of scenarios but you pushed them away, knowing that Mettaton would never actually do anything like what you were picturing.

Mettaton stayed with you the entire time you showered, sitting on the toilet lid and filling the silence by telling you about what he had been doing at work the last week. You silently thanked the universe for his conversational skills - he wasn't making you speak at all.

When you turned off the water Mettaton retreated to the other side of your bathroom to give you space, as otherwise his legs would have been in your way due to how small the room actually was. He closed his eyes again, but still faced toward you.

"Shit." You swore when you felt yourself become lightheaded and your legs go weak. Even though you caught yourself on the wall, the second Mettaton heard you he was at your side with his hands on your waist, holding you up. You were glad you had managed to wrap yourself in a towel before it happened.

"Are you okay?" He asked, scanning you for any sign of injury. His care for you made you smile and you bit your lip to hide it.

"Yeah, Mett, I'm alright." You reassured him, taking your hand off the wall and letting him hold you up. The two of you stood there for a second, looking at each other.

"You can let go now." You said.

"Oh. Right." Mettaton's hands dropped and he took a step back, still looking at you like he was waiting for something to happen.

"Eyes shut." You coaxed him. He gave you one last cautious look before closing his eyes. You quickly dried yourself off and got dressed.

"You can look now." You told him, sensing that he was worried about you. At this point you had your jeans on and were buttoning up a flannel since you were wearing no shirt underneath it. Mettaton's eyes snapped open and he looked you over once more to make sure you were okay.

"I'm alright, Mett, really." You chuckled, holding a hand up. He frowned a little and grabbed your towel, folding it and hanging it up at a speed that was inhuman. Then he turned to you.

"Alright, darling, come on." He gave you a small smile and took ahold of your wrist, then taking a step backwards to the door that lead to the main room of your apartment. You followed him, sliding your hand down so that instead of holding your wrist he held your hand.

The shower had you feeling a bit better, you were a little more upbeat and social. Mettaton sat down on your couch, pulling you down with him. You gave a small huff of amusement as you hit the cushions.

"What do you want to eat, sweetheart?" He asked as you pulled a blanket around your shoulders. You shook your head.

"Not hungry." While it was short, it didn't sound like you were upset. Mettaton looked at you sternly.

"And when was the last time you ate?" You froze, trying to think of the answer to his question and drawing a blank.

"That's what I thought. What do you want to eat?" Mettaton asked again. You faced him, putting your back up against the armrest and drawing your knees to your chest.

"I dunno. Whatever's fine, I guess. If you want something in particular that's cool, otherwise whatever's cheapest." You said with a shrug. Mettaton stood up and went to your kitchen, and started going through the cupboards.

"No wonder you didn't eat, you have absolutely nothing!" He said, turning to you from your empty fridge exasperated. You gave another innocent shrug.

"You try living off a waitress's paycheck." You replied like it was nothing. To you, it was nothing. Not having enough food was a normal occurrence, and you were fine with it. On the other hand, the concept of such was something that highly distressed Mettaton.

"You work at the lab now, what about that?" Mettaton asked, turning back around to close the refrigerator door.

You scoffed, "Yeah, for like a week. I haven't gotten a paycheck yet. I didn't even think I'd be getting paid in the first place." Mettaton turned to you once more and huffed, fixing his hair.

"It's cool, man, relax. We can just order something." You pulled your phone out of your pocket and started looking up restaurants near you. Mettaton stared at you with an eyebrow raised because you never spoke to him like that. You looked up at him upon feeling his gaze.

"Sorry, I speak differently depending on my mood." You answered the question he hadn't been verbally asking upon feeling him stare at you. You listed off the options and after a bit of "I don't care, what do you want?" back and forth the two of you settled on pizza.

"Only the healthiest of things for me." You joked as Mettaton sat down next to you after placing the order. He smiled and shook his head.

"It'll be here in about half an hour."

The half hour came and went, and you spent the time asking Mettaton about some of the things you remembered him mentioning while you were in the shower. He excitedly told you more about the projects he was working on, and this time you had the ability to actually converse with him.

When the two of you were done eating, you were going to go back to the couch, but Mettaton caught your arm.

"Uh-uh, darling." He shook his head and let go of you.

"What?"

"Put on your shoes." Mettaton said, walking to your closet. You followed him and accepted the pair he gave you.

"Do you really only have two pairs of shoes?" He asked, looking around your closet. You sat down on the floor to put them on.

"Uh... Yeah. Why?" Mettaton looked at you in bewilderment while you tied your laces.

"How?" He asked in return.

"I have those for professional environments," You pointed at the pair in the closet, "and these for everything else. You say that like I need more." You stood up, taking his hand to help you. After eating you felt a lot better physically and weren't unbalanced or weak anymore.

"Oh, wait a second. Yeah, that's right, normal people have multiple pairs, don't they?" You snapped your fingers and said before Mettaton had a chance to speak.

"Well, that decides what we're doing." Mettaton walked to your front door and you followed him again, grabbing your keys in the process.

"What?" You asked. He didn't respond - rather, he opened the door for you. Once in the lobby you turned to go out the back of the building, but he stopped you.

"We're walking, darling." He said, putting a hand on your arm. You followed him out the front.

"I know this fabulous little shoe store not too far from here and I'm positive they'd have things you'd love." Mettaton explained as you walked, nonchalantly slipping his hand in yours.

"How would you know?" You asked, glancing down at his spotless boots. He always either had hot pink or black ones, but they were the same style.

Mettaton huffed, but smiled, "I got the designs for these from a product there."

"Okay, but they look exactly the same as the ones you had when you were still in the Underground." As you walked, you looked around - it had been a while since you had actually been outside like this, and it was a good refreshment.

"They are very similar, yes. But if you know what to look for you can see the differences." Mettaton glanced down at you and smiled while giving your hand a light squeeze. You bit your lip and looked down, before realizing something.

"Hey, wait a second," You stopped, making Mettaton stop as well and turn back to you, "you're not planning on me getting new shoes, are you?" Mettaton furrowed his brow.

"That's kind of what one does at a shoe store, sweetheart." He said, with the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Ah, I, uh..." You gave a short nervous laugh, "I don't exactly have the money for that."

"I'd be paying for everything, love." Mettaton scoffed and said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?! I can't let you do that!"

"Why not?"

"Um... I, uh..." You bit your lip again and looked to the side of him. He stood there and waited patiently for your response.

"It's not right." You finally said. Mettaton was silent, looking at you curiously, and you ran a hand through your hair and huffed. You looked across the street to avoid looking at him until his voice called your attention.

"C'mon, love. Sit." He said. He was sat on a bench that was conveniently placed next to where you had stopped, and he patted the seat next to him. You obliged and sat down next to him, and he looked at you in a way that told he was waiting for you to explain your thoughts.

When you didn't speak, he did.

"So, how is my buying something for you not right?" You bit your lip and stared straight ahead.

"Because I'd be indebted to you. And I never, ever want to be indebted to anyone. Besides," You paused, and a small smile flickered on your face as you glanced at him, "I'm not exactly worth spending your money on anyway."

"What?" Mettaton's voice was sharp and he looked at you incredulously.

"I'm not worth spending money on." You repeated, looking him in the eyes now.

"You have so many better things you could do with what you have, Mett. Don't waste that on me." You could tell by the look on his face you were going to get yet another lecture about your uncomfort in others spending on you.

"What in the world makes you think like that, darling?" He asked instead. His question took you by surprise and you were quiet for a moment.

"I mean, money's important." You gave a bitter laugh, "It's kind of what makes the world go 'round. So you shouldn't spend your hard-earned money on me when there's about a million better things you could spend it on; you know, clothes, bills, gas, the works. And like I said, I don't like owing people."

Mettaton shook his head, "No, no no no. That's not how it works, love." You raised an eyebrow, wordlessly telling him to elaborate.

"I want to." He said simply.

"Why?"

Mettaton pauses for a second, pressing his lips together in thought.

"You told me to spend my money on important things. Well, darling, you're one of the most important things." Your eyes widened when he spoke.

You stuttered for a second before gathering enough wits to reply, "What?"

"Plus, you wouldn't owe me anything. Like I said, I want to do this. I want to buy you things and shower you in gifts because I care about you and want you to not only have the things you need, but have what you want as well." He continued, a small smile appearing. You blushed, hard, and bit your lip forcefully.

"O-oh." Was all you managed to choke out. The grin on Mettaton's face widened, and he took your hand and pulled you up, leading you down the sidewalk once more.

When the two of you arrived at the store, you had to admit that you were pleasantly surprised. The place had a lot of variety and good styles, and from past experiences you had been skeptical (even though those previous experiences had been few and far between).

"How old are those, anyway?" Mettaton asked, referring to your shoes. You looked down at your feet, watching the way the broken seams opened when you moved your toes.

"I don't know. Nine years, maybe?"

"And that's why we're here." Mettaton said, making you laugh. Your eyes scanned the shelves around you until they landed on a certain pair that made you light up. They were full black Chuck Taylors that were stylized a bit like combat boots, and you fell in love immediately.

"Ohh shit," You breathed excitedly, skipping over to them and picking them up. Mettaton came up behind you, and by the time he got to you you were already trying on a pair.

"What do you think?" You asked him, glancing at him while you walked in circles to see how they fit. He analyzed them for a few moments.

"I think they look great on you, darling." Mettaton said finally. You looked up to see him smiling at you and you returned it. You went to look at the cost, as it had slipped your mind until then, but Mettaton quickly moved to cover the price tag with his hand.

"Don't worry about it." He said when you looked back at him. You made a face and sighed, giving in. When taking the shoes off your feet and returning them to the box your excitement resurfaced.

You walked up and down a few aisles before you found another pair of shoes that you liked. These ones were Adidas brand, black and white high-tops.

"You want to ask me something. What is it?" You addressed Mettaton without looking at him while pulling on the new pair. He was taken aback for a second at the way you knew what he was thinking.

"Why do you always get high-rise shoes?" He asked.

"Because I'm weird and if I wear shoes that don't go above my ankle I feel like I'm going to step out of them." You answered, a humorous grin on your face while you stood up. You returned your attention to your feet, walking around to make sure the Adidas's fit as well.

"Good shit." You said aloud to no one, attempting to hide your excitement by biting your lip. You turned around to face Mettaton, about to say something when you were interrupted.

"Oh my god, Mettaton!" A high pitched excited squeal erupted from the front of the store, and you and Mettaton exchanged a knowing look, his quickly turning to guilt. You gave him a smile to tell him it was okay and disappeared behind a shelf to return the shoes you were wearing to their box.

"Hi there, darling." You could hear Mettaton greet the fan that approached him. They excitedly asked him for a picture, and he obliged. That was followed by fast-paced talking that you didn't bother trying to understand. This went on for a few minutes, and during that time you were becoming a little impatient. Of course they had a right to ask him for a picture, and tell him how much he meant to them, but that wasn't happening. What was happening was terrible flirting attempts that made you cringe, and you could practically feel Mettaton's discomfort.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" You heard the fan ask. Before Mettaton could respond you appeared from behind the shelf you had been standing and went up next to him.

"Hey, Mett. You ready to leave?" You asked, looking up at him while innocently putting his hand in yours. You could feel the fan in front of you giving you a death glare and you smirked.

"Sure thing, love." He replied, then turning to the fan.

"It was nice meeting you." He said respectfully, giving them a smile that you could tell was partially fake. As you led him away you could feel him shiver and you laughed.

"Feeling the love?" You asked, grinning at him. He breathed out heavily making you laugh more. The two of you approached the register and he paid, though not without you giving one last attempt to not let him do so. He made sure to hide the price from you, pocketing the receipt.

"Dammit, Mettaton." You shook your head, despite the smile on your face. He picked up the bag as well as opening the door for you and you could feel yourself blush, once more biting your lip.

"So, sweetheart, are you happy with your new purchases?" He asked while you walked back to your apartment. You didn't bother trying to hide the smile on your face this time.

"Very. Thank you." You squeezed the hand you were holding to further prove your appreciation.

"Of course." Mettaton returned your grin.

When you got home you happily put your new shoes and the ones you had been wearing in your closet and joined Mettaton on the couch once more. He sat in the corner with you on his lap, your back against the armrest. He turned on the TV, though you knew neither of you were actually watching it. Your wrapped your arm around his shoulder absentmindedly while he stared at the screen with a blank look.

While Mettaton looked at the TV, you were looking at him. Your eyes traced his jawline and moved upwards, to his lips, his nose, his eyes. You took in every little detail you could - the small venting on the side of his face, the screws above his eyebrow, the coloring in his eyes. You loved the fact that his irises were hot pink, because of course they were. You leaned your head against his shoulder while lightly moving your fingertips back and forth on the side of his neck.

"Hey, Mett." You called, getting his attention. He looked down to you and hummed, and you hesitated in the question you were going to ask, biting your lip but not looking away from him.

"You remember when we first met?" You started. Mettaton smiled.

"Of course I do, darling."

You hesitated again before continuing.

"When you saw me... Why did you walk over?" Mettaton tilted his head thoughtfully. You didn't need to specify that you were really asking what had attracted him to you in the first place - he knew.

"I suppose it was because I saw something in you, sweetheart." Mettaton paused, "Or perhaps it was what I didn't see."

"What is that supposed to mean?" You asked, a small smile on your face. Mettaton took a breath.

"Usually, when I see people, I can get a feel for the type of person they are immediately. But, when I saw you, it was different. You were different." Mettaton smiled.

"I couldn't get a read on you, and it intrigued me. All I knew was that you looked like you could see the universe in that cup of water in your hand."

You brought the hand that wasn't around his neck to your face in an attempt to hide both your blush and smile. Your eyes flickered to the wall behind him for a second before you forced yourself to look back at him.

Mettaton's eyes shone brightly as he stared at you in adoration. He took his free hand (his left was under your back) and gently took your hand away from your face. You resorted to biting your lip as you looked him up and down.

"Well, what do you think now?" You asked quietly.

"I think I'm no where near close to figuring you out, but I know I'd like to stick around and try."


	9. Day 127 // Studio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter word count: 2,772

The next day you woke up in your bed, unsure of how you got there. You rolled out, gracelessly tripping over your own feet as you stood up straight and pulled the sheets back up to the top of the mattress. After putting your hair up and throwing a beanie on your head, as you couldn't be bothered to do anything else, you poked your head out of your bedroom door.

Mettaton's face lit up when he saw you.

"Good morning, darling. How'd you sleep?" He asked with a smile. Your eyes drifted to the pancakes on a plate in his hand.

"Pretty good, actually." You replied, staring at the food. Mettaton chuckled.

"I went to the store this morning and restocked your kitchen." Mettaton said to answer your question before you asked it. You looked back up at his face.

"Jesus Christ, Mett." You said while walking over to him. You walked straight into him, carelessly bumping into his chest and staying there. He wrapped his arms around you in a hug while your eyes scanned the kitchen.

"Wow." You pulled back from Mettaton, opening the pantry and the fridge.

"I've never had this much food in my place before." You laughed quietly, turning back to him as you spoke.

"Come on. Eat." Mettaton said, gesturing to your newly-made breakfast. You thanked him and took the plate, along with silverware, syrup, and butter, before going to your coffee table and sitting down in front of it.

"Is that really how you eat when we're not sitting on the couch?" You heard Mettaton ask, making you look over at him. You realized that he had only actually seen you eat a few times, and those were either in public or eating fast-food on your couch.

"Yeah." You replied, looking back at your plate for a moment.

"You're not eating?" You asked, looking at Mettaton. He was still in your kitchen.

"I only eat because I can, darling. I don't have to." He replied. You rolled your eyes at yourself.

"Right. I forgot. It's too early for me to think straight." You huffed in partial amusement before nearly choking.

"Shit, what time is it?" You asked urgently, putting your hand to your back pocket and realizing your phone wasn't there.

"8:30." Mettaton answered while looking at you worriedly. You heaved a sigh of relief and fell onto your back.

"Oh, thank fuck."

Alphys, being the great employer she is, doesn't make you come in until noon. You sat back up and quickly got your phone from your room before returning to eat.

"Wait, crap. I could've cleaned up." You said upon seeing Mettaton leave the kitchen to join you.

He shook his head, "No, it's okay." You apologized anyway and he smiled.

"Really, sweetheart, it's fine." You don't get a chance to respond because his phone rings. Mettaton looks at you apologetically before turning around and answering it. You take the time to look at your own phone and see that you had a message.

_**Fucking Weaboo- Don't worry about coming in today** _

_**Fucking Weaboo- Oh god wait, that makes it sound like I fired you. That's not what I mean** _

_**Fucking Weaboo- There was a change of plans and I'm not going to be at the lab today so you don't need to come in** _

_**Fucking Weaboo- I'm not firing you, I swear** _

You laughed at your boss's very professional texts before responding to her.

_**Don't worry about it, thanks for letting me know** _

Your attention is taken from your phone when you hear Mettaton let out a very prominent "Shit."

"What's wrong?" You ask, looking at him and putting another bite of pancake in your mouth. Mettaton turns to face you, his hand in his hair and he closes his eyes.

"They need me back at the studio today. I'm sorry, darling." He replies, opening his eyes to look at you guiltily.

You swallow, "Hey, don't worry about it. I don't need to go to Alphys's today so I'll probably just hang around." You hold up your phone and shake it for explanation. Mettaton's look of guilt changes to one of worry, and then to thought followed by excitement.

"I know, darling - You can come in with me!" Mettaton says. You raise an eyebrow.

"Are you even allowed to do that?"

He laughs, "Of course I can, I'm me." You chuckle at his response and shake your head.

"Alright, then I guess I'll go with you today."

You finish eating and take a quick shower, blow-drying your hair and dressing in black jeans and a white tank top. On top of that you put on a red flannel and leave it unbuttoned, along with a black snapback that you put on backwards and the pair of Adidas that Mettaton had bought you the day before.

Mettaton whistles when he sees you come out of your room, and you giggle.

"I know, I look great." You joke, turning in a circle on your toes before bowing to him with one arm behind your back and the other held to your stomach.

"You ready to go?" He asks while holding out his hand out to you. You grin and take it.

Once in Mettaton's car, you send a text to your brother letting him know where you'd be.

"Who was that?" Mettaton asks, keeping his eyes on the road. You look at him.

"Tony. Was telling him I'd be with you today instead of at the lab in case he needed me." Just then your phone vibrated.

_**Brother Bear- Okay** _

"Brother Bear?" Mettaton asked, glancing at your brother's contact name while at a red light.

"It's a movie." You explain, softly chuckling at your own joke, "Besides I have weird contact names for everyone."

"What's mine?" Mettaton asks with an amused smile.

"MTT Brand Booty." You reply, trying to keep a straight face but failing and letting out a snort.

"What??" Mettaton exclaimed, lightly laughing.

"Yeah. Um, Alphys's is Fucking Weaboo." You snicker, and Mettaton puts a hand to his mouth as he laughs harder.

"Careful, don't crash the car." You say, looking at him and grinning.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Mettaton says, gaining his composure for a moment, "I've just never heard anything more accurate in my life than 'Fucking Weaboo'." He begins to laugh again, and you do as well. After a minute he settles down.

"That's absolutely ingenious, darling." Mettaton says once he's calmed enough to speak normally.

"Thanks, I try." You giggle in response. Mettaton pulls into a large building with 'MTT' on it in big letters.

"Wow. That is... Large." You say, looking up at it through the windshield. The place was four stories tall and took up an immeasurable amount of space. The parking lot was also gigantic. The building seemed to be made mostly of glass, making it a breathtaking sight. You look over to Mettaton, who was watching you with a grin.

"Alright, man, let's go." You say before he can ask if you're ready, unbuckling and stepping out of the car. You close the door and walk around to the front to meet Mettaton, who had locked it and was putting his keys in his pocket.

"So, why do they need you anyway? I thought you were done." You ask while walking to the building's back doors. Mettaton, of course, had VIP parking, so the walk was short.

"There were complications in something and they need me for my input or something." Mettaton replied with a shrug, placing his thumb on a fingerprint scanner.

"Woah. Fancy." You say, watching the display light up green granting you access.

"Of course. This is my headquarters we're at." Mettaton replies jokingly and you snort. He flicks his hair over his shoulder for dramatic effect before smiling at you. He opens the door for you and you step into the building, staying as close to the entrance as possible when people look at you. Mettaton comes up behind you and takes your hand, giving it a light squeeze. You look up at him and he smiles reassuringly before walking with you to a desk.

"Mr. Mettaton." The secretary addresses him and you choke on air, covering your mouth with your free hand and looking away. She glances at you and glares before looking back to Mettaton.

"Good morning, Stacy. I was called in?" Mettaton says to her, his voice smooth, diffusing the situation. You regain a straight face and let your hand drop, looking back to the secretary while the song 'Stacy's Mom' played in your head. You bit your lip to keep back a smirk.

"You were, Sir." Stacy continued to tell Mettaton where he was needed while you internally laughed at her usage of 'sir'. Mettaton asked her to make you a guest pass, and when she disappeared from behind the desk you stood on the tips of your toes while pulling Mettaton down to you.

"Sir~" You whispered in his ear, returning to the floor with a quiet giggle. Mettaton huffed.

"You're terrible." He whispered in return, though you could see a small smile on his face. You just bit your lip to hide your grin.

"Here you are, Sir." Stacy returned to her desk and handed Mettaton the freshly made pass. He thought of what you had said and flushed slightly.

"Thank you, Stacy." He said to her with a smile before pulling you away from the desk.

"You suck!" Mettaton whispered to you once you were about ten feet away. You laughed.

"Here, come here." He stopped, stepping in front of you with the guest pass in hand. While he pinned it to your flannel you had an idea.

"Hey Mett, you know that me being seen here with you is going to make our publicity blow up, right?" You asked him. Mettaton stood up straight and looked down at you with his head cocked. He thought for a second.

"Oh." Was all he said. The media involving you being seen with him was already large, with rumors circulating like crazy. While it had been revealed what you looked like, the restaurant you worked at, and even the apartment building you lived in, you didn't mind. It wasn't a problem, at least not yet, and you knew that if shit went down Mettaton would protect you.

"Eh, don't worry about it. What can they do?" You smiled and returned the reassuring squeeze of his hand that he had given you earlier upon sensing his increasing worry.

"Lots of things." Mettaton replied. You narrowed your eyes at him.

"Way to stay positive." You chuckled, "Come on, being pessimistic is my job." Mettaton still looked at you with worry but let the subject drop, returning to his place by your side.

"Hey, Boss!" A cat-like monster quickly approached you and Mettaton once you walked into the room he was supposed to go to. You briefly looked around the room before looking the monster in front of you up and down. His orange fur was disheveled, he smelled of cigarette smoke and looked stressed.

"Burgerpants. How are things?" Mettaton asked his employee. Burgerpants started walking, leading you and Mettaton to follow.

"Bad, Boss, they're real bad. Everyone's freaking out and that company's insisting that we pay them more in order to fix this." Burgerpants replied. He was rushing, though Mettaton was easily able to keep up with him - you, on the other hand, weren't having such luck. Thankfully, it only took five seconds for Mettaton to reach the chair he was supposed to be at. It was at the head of a long table, and everyone seated was staring at you and him. Mettaton glanced between them before looking at you. He took a few steps away to gain more privacy.

"It would probably be better if you were with Napstablook during this, sweetheart." He whispered. You blinked once and gave a small nod while he apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Mister Business Man." You replied, smiling and tapping his arm. Mettaton stepped over to Burgerpants and quietly told him his plan, and the cat-monster nodded. Burgerpants walked to you and Mettaton gave you one last apologetic smile before sitting down.

"So, what's your name, little dude?" Burgerpants asked once the door had closed behind you both.

"Hey man, just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm younger than you." You replied, gently elbowing him.

"And you are?"

"23."

"Nice to meet you, 23." Burgerpants smirked and you pressed your lips together while putting a hand over your mouth.

"Don't be fucking rude." You said through your laughter.

"I'm not being rude!" Burgerpants defended, putting his hands up. You shook your head.

"Whatever, you twat." You could tell that Burgerpants was one of the kinds of people you could jokingly swear at or insult without them being offended, and you took comfort in that.

"Seriously though, what's your name?"

"Katrina. And if you say 'like the hurricane' I will smack you." Burgerpants chuckled.

"What an introduction." He said, glancing at you.

"It's been said so many times, I might as well play Rock You Like A Hurricane every time I walk into a room." You replied with a huff.

"How'd you get stuck with the world's worst moniker that every your boss calls you?" You ask him before he could reply.

"Long story. Besides, it's either that or Theodore." Burgerpants shivered and you laughed.

"Oh my god, that's fucking terrible. No wonder why you smoke." You say through giggles.

"Anyway, I've gotta get back to the boss. You know, meetings and all that fun stuff." Burgerpants says while opening the door to a room. You thank him and say goodbye, telling him to have fun.

"Damn." You breathed, looking around the room after shutting the door behind you.

"oh... hey there....." Napstablook looked up to face you. The ghost floated over a mixer and had a pair of headphones on.

"Hey. Mett had a meeting and told me to hang out here. Is that cool?" You asked, taking a few steps toward them.

"oh.... of course......" Napstablook replied, shuffling a little.

"What're you working on?" You looked down at the large table separating the two of you, your eyes running over the dials and switches. You couldn't help the smile that appeared on your face.

"just some music...... it's not much, really............" Napstablook's voice made you look back up at them.

"I'd love to hear it, if you'd show me." You offered. You were excited to see what they had come up with - Mettaton had mentioned their cousin's music on multiple occasions.

"if you want to........" Napstablook pressed a few things and gave you a pair of headphones, which you eagerly put on. They hit a button and music started. It had an electronic feel to it, and you liked it. It took you a second to register when it was no longer playing in your ears, and you took the headphones off.

"Dude. That was incredible!" You said excitedly, looking to Napstablook. A ghost of a smile appeared on their face.

"you.... you think so?" They asked and you nodded vigorously.

"It's amazing. You're really talented."

"oh....... thank you................." Napstablook froze for a second, then began to hurriedly interact with the mixer. Soon, new parts were being added to their song. You sat and listened, giving praise and encouragement and even advice if they asked.

"What gives you motivation?" You asked suddenly, surprising even yourself. Napstablook looked thoughtful.

"the things around me....... I suppose.......... different parts of my life............" Even after answering Napstablook appeared to continue to think about it. You nodded.

The process continued for a while, Napstablook making music and the two of you saying something every once in a while. You felt no pressure to talk or entertain the ghost, and you appreciated the opportunity to just relax with someone.

After some time the door opened and you turned around to see Mettaton smiling at you.

"Hello, darlings. Doing well?" He asked, striding over and giving Napstablook a hug. Afterwards Mettaton kept his arm around them.

"How'd the meeting go?" You asked. Mettaton's expressing changed to once of annoyance and he rolled his eyes.

"Ugh." He huffed.

You chuckled, "That well?"

"The people I work with... How is it possible for a group of that many to have the intellect of an infant?" Mettaton frowned.

"You know, stegosaurs had brains about the size of a ping pong ball." You reply. Mettaton looks lost.

"Never mind." You smile and shake your head, "What now?"

"Now we go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is short and kind of meh, I've been a little out of it lately and writer's block hit me like a bitch.
> 
> Side note: I really, really love Alphys's contact name. I began this chapter weeks ago and it still makes me laugh. Also, let's play spot the pun in the chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr @zivicio
> 
> Special thanks to Ao3 user Calix, whose awesome work "The Call Of A Mute Heart" inspired me to write again after six months of producing nothing.
> 
> If you like my style, I did a previous Undertale fanfiction a few months back! It has no romance in it but I think it's pretty rad, it's basically just an AU fic but check it out if you want.
> 
> Any tips, constructive criticism, or comments in general are very welcomed, I love to have input and learn how I can become a better writer!  
> Thanks for reading!


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